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They frame it as a learning technique, but it's also a great problem-solving technique. When I was a kid I made money by helping my dad with his programming. W
by TipVFL 9y ago
They frame it as a learning technique, but it's also a great problem-solving technique.
When I was a kid I made money by helping my dad with his programming. When he got stuck on problems he'd come out and find me, and offer me $20 to solve it. Then he'd explain what he was trying to do in the simplest way that he could, and explain what he'd already tried. About half the time he'd figure it out before he finished explaining it (and I'd get nothing).
- eesmith 9y agoWhat you describe is most often called something like "Rubber duck debugging", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging . I learned it as "talking to the wall" debugging.
- TipVFL 9y agoThis is similar, but I meant figuring out how you're going to solve a problem using code, not figuring out how you're going to fix your code. One example I can remember is my dad coming out and holding up a pen, and asking me how I would view all sides of the pen without moving my head. I said, "I'd spin the pen around," and my dad yelled, "of course!", threw a twenty at me and ran back to his office.