Case 427
The incident everyone remembers
the_incident_everyone_remembers.eml - The outage nobody will forget cost less than the class nobody can name.
ok: true — round-trip fixpoint reached (python1 == python2)updated 2026-08-17
EML
eml# Self-authored for the EML case corpus (no external origin). The outage nobody
# will forget cost less than the class nobody can name.
#
# Remembering it is not irrational. It was long, it happened during the day, it
# was visible to customers, and everyone was in the room for it - all of which
# are real features of a serious incident, and all of which are also features
# that make an event memorable independently of what it cost.
#
# The other class arrives in fifteen-minute pieces, at night, one team at a
# time. Nobody was ever in a room for it, so there is no shared memory of it to
# be weighed against anything.
#
# Both totals are computed from the same incident list.
# [class, occurrences, minutes each, daytime, everyone paged]
[["the big one", 1, 380, 1, 1], ["slow checkout", 41, 14, 0, 0], ["stale cache", 22, 9, 0, 0], ["auth flap", 7, 25, 1, 0]] => classes
def minutes(c):
return c[1] * c[2]
def total_minutes():
0 => t
for c in classes:
t + minutes(c) => t
return t
"class times each total daytime all-hands" ^0
for c in classes:
"" => d
if c[3] == 1:
d + "yes" => d
else:
d + "no " => d
"" => e
if c[4] == 1:
e + "yes" => e
else:
e + "no " => e
" " + c[0] + " " + str(c[1]) + " " + str(c[2]) + " " + str(minutes(c)) + " " + d + " " + e ^0
" total minutes : " + str(total_minutes()) ^0
"" ^0
# ---- which class costs the most ----
0 => worst
0 => worst_at
0 => i
for c in classes:
if minutes(c) > worst:
minutes(c) => worst
i => worst_at
i + 1 => i
"the costliest class" ^0
" " + classes[worst_at][0] + " : " + str(worst) + " minutes (" + str(int(worst * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%)" ^0
"" ^0
# ---- which one is memorable ----
0 => memorable_at
0 => j
for c in classes:
if c[3] == 1:
if c[4] == 1:
j => memorable_at
j + 1 => j
"the memorable one" ^0
" " + classes[memorable_at][0] + " : " + str(minutes(classes[memorable_at])) + " minutes (" + str(int(minutes(classes[memorable_at]) * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%)" ^0
if not (memorable_at == worst_at):
" it is not the costliest" ^0
"" ^0
# ---- where the engineering went ----
# [class index, engineer-days spent on prevention afterwards]
[[0, 30], [1, 2], [2, 0], [3, 1]] => effort
def days(idx):
for e in effort:
if e[0] == idx:
return e[1]
return 0
0 => total_days
for e in effort:
total_days + e[1] => total_days
"prevention effort against cost" ^0
0 => k
for c in classes:
" " + c[0] + " : " + str(int(minutes(c) * 100 / total_minutes())) + "% of the cost, " + str(int(days(k) * 100 / total_days)) + "% of the effort" ^0
k + 1 => k
"" ^0
# ---- what a proportional allocation would look like ----
"if effort followed cost" ^0
0 => m
for c in classes:
int(minutes(c) * total_days / total_minutes()) => want
" " + c[0] + " : " + str(days(m)) + " days spent, " + str(want) + " proportional" ^0
m + 1 => m
"" ^0
# ---- the class nobody can name ----
0 => nameless_minutes
0 => nameless_days
0 => n
for c in classes:
if c[4] == 0:
nameless_minutes + minutes(c) => nameless_minutes
nameless_days + days(n) => nameless_days
n + 1 => n
"incidents nobody was all paged for" ^0
" their share of downtime : " + str(int(nameless_minutes * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%" ^0
" their share of effort : " + str(int(nameless_days * 100 / total_days)) + "%" ^0
"" ^0
# ---- the control: a memorable incident that IS the costliest ----
#
# Memorability is not the defect. It is a good heuristic exactly when the
# dramatic event is also the expensive one, which is often.
[["the big one", 1, 900, 1, 1], ["small stuff", 20, 5, 0, 0]] => aligned
0 => at
for c in aligned:
at + c[1] * c[2] => at
"control - a year where the dramatic incident really is the expensive one" ^0
" the big one : " + str(int(aligned[0][1] * aligned[0][2] * 100 / at)) + "% of downtime" ^0
if aligned[0][1] * aligned[0][2] * 100 / at > 50:
" here memory and cost point the same way" ^0
"" ^0
"Every property that made the outage memorable is a real property of a serious" ^0
"incident. None of them is duration times frequency, and that is the quantity" ^0
"the year is made of." ^0Python (deterministic transpilation)
pythonclasses = [["the big one", 1, 380, 1, 1], ["slow checkout", 41, 14, 0, 0], ["stale cache", 22, 9, 0, 0], ["auth flap", 7, 25, 1, 0]]
def minutes(c):
return c[1] * c[2]
def total_minutes():
t = 0
for c in classes:
t = t + minutes(c)
return t
print("class times each total daytime all-hands")
for c in classes:
d = ""
if c[3] == 1:
d = d + "yes"
else:
d = d + "no "
e = ""
if c[4] == 1:
e = e + "yes"
else:
e = e + "no "
print(" " + c[0] + " " + str(c[1]) + " " + str(c[2]) + " " + str(minutes(c)) + " " + d + " " + e)
print(" total minutes : " + str(total_minutes()))
print("")
worst = 0
worst_at = 0
i = 0
for c in classes:
if minutes(c) > worst:
worst = minutes(c)
worst_at = i
i = i + 1
print("the costliest class")
print(" " + classes[worst_at][0] + " : " + str(worst) + " minutes (" + str(int(worst * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%)")
print("")
memorable_at = 0
j = 0
for c in classes:
if c[3] == 1:
if c[4] == 1:
memorable_at = j
j = j + 1
print("the memorable one")
print(" " + classes[memorable_at][0] + " : " + str(minutes(classes[memorable_at])) + " minutes (" + str(int(minutes(classes[memorable_at]) * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%)")
if not memorable_at == worst_at:
print(" it is not the costliest")
print("")
effort = [[0, 30], [1, 2], [2, 0], [3, 1]]
def days(idx):
for e in effort:
if e[0] == idx:
return e[1]
return 0
total_days = 0
for e in effort:
total_days = total_days + e[1]
print("prevention effort against cost")
k = 0
for c in classes:
print(" " + c[0] + " : " + str(int(minutes(c) * 100 / total_minutes())) + "% of the cost, " + str(int(days(k) * 100 / total_days)) + "% of the effort")
k = k + 1
print("")
print("if effort followed cost")
m = 0
for c in classes:
want = int(minutes(c) * total_days / total_minutes())
print(" " + c[0] + " : " + str(days(m)) + " days spent, " + str(want) + " proportional")
m = m + 1
print("")
nameless_minutes = 0
nameless_days = 0
n = 0
for c in classes:
if c[4] == 0:
nameless_minutes = nameless_minutes + minutes(c)
nameless_days = nameless_days + days(n)
n = n + 1
print("incidents nobody was all paged for")
print(" their share of downtime : " + str(int(nameless_minutes * 100 / total_minutes())) + "%")
print(" their share of effort : " + str(int(nameless_days * 100 / total_days)) + "%")
print("")
aligned = [["the big one", 1, 900, 1, 1], ["small stuff", 20, 5, 0, 0]]
at = 0
for c in aligned:
at = at + c[1] * c[2]
print("control - a year where the dramatic incident really is the expensive one")
print(" the big one : " + str(int(aligned[0][1] * aligned[0][2] * 100 / at)) + "% of downtime")
if aligned[0][1] * aligned[0][2] * 100 / at > 50:
print(" here memory and cost point the same way")
print("")
print("Every property that made the outage memorable is a real property of a serious")
print("incident. None of them is duration times frequency, and that is the quantity")
print("the year is made of.")stdout (executed)
textclass times each total daytime all-hands
the big one 1 380 380 yes yes
slow checkout 41 14 574 no no
stale cache 22 9 198 no no
auth flap 7 25 175 yes no
total minutes : 1327
the costliest class
slow checkout : 574 minutes (43%)
the memorable one
the big one : 380 minutes (28%)
it is not the costliest
prevention effort against cost
the big one : 28% of the cost, 90% of the effort
slow checkout : 43% of the cost, 6% of the effort
stale cache : 14% of the cost, 0% of the effort
auth flap : 13% of the cost, 3% of the effort
if effort followed cost
the big one : 30 days spent, 9 proportional
slow checkout : 2 days spent, 14 proportional
stale cache : 0 days spent, 4 proportional
auth flap : 1 days spent, 4 proportional
incidents nobody was all paged for
their share of downtime : 71%
their share of effort : 9%
control - a year where the dramatic incident really is the expensive one
the big one : 90% of downtime
here memory and cost point the same way
Every property that made the outage memorable is a real property of a serious
incident. None of them is duration times frequency, and that is the quantity
the year is made of.Trace event types
eml:run:starteml:assigneml:defeml:outputeml:calleml:returneml:run:done