I know this is an old one, but it's the holidays, so why not pull it out and dust it off? > Twas The Night Before Implementation > ------------------------------------- > > Twas the night before implementation > And all through the house > Not a program was working, > Not even a browse. > > The engineers hung by their tubes in despair, > With hopes that a miracle soon would be there. > The customers were nestled all snug in their beds, > While visions of progress danced in their heads. > > When out of the COPE there arose such a clatter, > I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter. > And what to my wondering eyes should appear, > But a super programmer (with a six pack of beer). > > His resume glowed with experience so rare, > He turned out great code with a bit pusher's flair. > > More rapid than eagles, his routines they came, > And he whistled and shouted and called them by name: > On Update! On Add! On Inquire! On Delete! > On Batch Jobs! On Closing! On Functions Complete! > > His eyes were glazed over, fingers nimble and lean, > >From weekends and nights spent in front of a screen. > A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, > Soon gave me to know, I had nothing to dread. > > He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, > Turning specs into code, then turned with a jerk; > And laying his finger upon the "enter" key, > The system came up and worked perfectly. > > The updates updated; the deletes, they deleted; > The inquiries inquired and closings completed. > He tested each whistle, and tested each bell, > With nary an APPEND, thus all had gone well. > > The job was finished, the tests were concluded, > The engineer's last changes were even included. > "Heh!", the customer exclaimed with a snarl and a taunt, > "It's just what I asked for, but not what I want!"