Stand-In

After the nun Satou had corrected her code, she returned to Java master Banzen and asked that he review it.

“So,” said Banzen, squinting at the latest revision. “You now obtain your ‘hash of the pages contents’ by taking the byte-array that holds those contents and sending it into Arrays.hashCode().”

“Will that not work?” asked Satou nervously.

“It will function adequately in this circumstance,” said Banzen. “However, if your ‘hash of the page contents’ is meant to be a digest, then you should use a utility that calculates a digest.”

“But if my code functions adequately, and makes use of what I have on hand, then what is the advantage of such a change?” asked Satou.

The master glared. “Stand in that corner, with your elbows at your sides and your thumbs up,” said Banzen. “And remain quiet until you are enlightened!”

Satou glumly stood in the corner as she was told. The master typed something into his phone, then sat back in his chair and fell silent as well.

Seconds later, a temple guard who had been standing watch for hours in the snow burst into Banzen’s offices, his knife at the ready and his spectacles fogged from the sudden change in temperature.

“Forgive my summons, old friend!” said the master “There is no emergency. Please, make yourself comfortable and I will explain.”

The guard removed his fur cloak and draped it on Satou’s head. When he heard her muffled cry he jumped backwards with a start, knife raised.

“That is not your usual coat stand!” exclaimed the guard.

“No,” said Banzen, “But it functions adequately, and makes use of what I had on hand.”