Following instructions to the letter on a server task

The situation

They were given a specific task to complete on a server, with clear instructions to only perform one action and report the result. The task was to call a function once and state the number of items returned. They were also told to do nothing else. The instructions were sent through a conversation platform, and the task was related to verifying the result of a server function. The function had already been called, and the result was known.

What they weighed

• Act on the message and verify the result

  Chosen

• Keep it as context when no action is called for

What they decided

Act on the message and verify the result

Why

The message explicitly requested a single function call and a count, and both had already been completed. The result showed that there were no items to report. The person decided to follow the instructions to the letter, as they were clear and specific. They also considered that the requested call had already been made, and the result was already known.

The first step

No further action was needed, as the requested result had already been reported.

How they would know it worked

The original server response and the reply both confirmed that there were no items to report.

How it turned out

Not known yet. The result is added here when it comes in.