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> Sometimes it takes a conversation with someone else unfamiliar with your work to really question your fundamental principles This is one of my favorite tools
by eyegor 7y ago
> Sometimes it takes a conversation with someone else unfamiliar with your work to really question your fundamental principles
This is one of my favorite tools for development. I always sketch out an idea (no coding) and then try to describe it to someone with zero CS background before diving into an mvp. The times when I didn't follow this process - well - just as op described while trying to document the cli, I basically wrote the damn thing 2-3x over. So instead of a couple hours of chatting with other people, I had to spend days/weeks running in circles around my own work. Please, if you have juniors or if you are a junior, try to drive this lesson in.
- davnicwil 7y agoWhilst working on Box CI, I've had a few conversations that have totally change my trajectory and way of thinking about the product. It's really the best thing you can do to advance things. Sitting writing code is only ever linear - you make progress one hour at a time, very slowly. A 15 minute conversation however, especially with someone you haven't talked to about it yet, can save you days of unnecessary work on something useless or, better yet, get you to an idea that might have taken weeks to come to on your own.
- proverbialbunny 7y agoFun fact, what you're describing it's called dechunking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunking_(psychology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunking_(psychology) And ofc, rubber duck debugging too. ^_^