There’s no doubt that programming is hard. You often get stuck for hours or even days trying to track down bugs in your code. Luckily, programmers are usually very good at solving problems, so it’s not a surprise that they ‘hacked’ debugging and found a better way to approach it.
While it may seem strange, programmers use rubber ducks to make their work a little bit easier. Even though the ducks don’t really do anything on their own, it turns out just explaining the code to them can help a programmer find the problem. The trick is very simple, once you try to explain the problem to someone (or something) else you understand it better and it’s easier to find a fix. Don’t believe us? Scroll below to see what programmers have to say about it!
Debugging can be overwhelming, but programmers have a secret weapon to help them find bugs
As it turns out it’s quite a common thing to do, so next time you’ll see a programmer with a rubber duck don’t get surprised
Image credits: Odkq
17Kviews
Share on FacebookI'm a programmer. If other programmers did this at work, OUT LOUD, I would be more likely to put bugs in my code. Programming is a thinking-man's activity. It requires quiet and focus, although the trend now is to put you next to the call center people and the CEO, hammering on their phones all day. They are just keeping me in business, because my design is worse, I miss edge cases, introduce more bugs. Always plenty of cleanup work for me to do later. I get interrupted in the middle of things, with no warnings, so I can't throw the current state of my program into long-term storage, and forget where I was. I might think I completed the thing, when I had one last thing to do instead. Idiots.
I’m with you on everything you stated. I program in VERY open cube-filled room where the cube walls are shorter than my height even when sitting down. My team combats a lot of this with noise-cancelling headphones, or just talking about the issue out loud to each other. Still, I can think of so many days when I’m struggling with a bug and someone is having a loud, distracting conversation nearby and completely wrecking my concentration. Those projects take so much longer because I end up making things worse. I need a quiet closet to sit in on those days.
Load More Replies...As a programmer of 23 years, I can confirm.. that I feel like everybody's been keeping a secret from me. Is there some mysterious programmer club that I never got invited to? Why is everyone is talking like it's an initiation rite or something yet I've never heard of this?
Cultural differences, maybe. To be honest, I never heard of this either. But it's a cute and funny story, so I chose to play along.
Load More Replies...Great writing,congrats. Very well known solutiom wich works as a charm. Hre you can find something more about rubber ducks: https://www.boredpanda.com/lost-in-action-moby-tub-duck/ https://catweazlemagic.exto.org/kunstwerken/107417_Curiosa.html
I cannot stop laughing when I stumbled cross this article. It is so funny, but it can also work for not just programmers, for myself who need to think more sharply and assemble data and thoughts in an organized way, solve problems.
Is awesome to discover how much rubber duck debugging works! I've used it since discovering this technique. If you want to show the world you are a rubber duck debugger follow this link: https://programmerswillconquer.com/collections/gadgets
I just thought they were all James Veitch fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5d8pVg3Qtg
I'm a programmer. If other programmers did this at work, OUT LOUD, I would be more likely to put bugs in my code. Programming is a thinking-man's activity. It requires quiet and focus, although the trend now is to put you next to the call center people and the CEO, hammering on their phones all day. They are just keeping me in business, because my design is worse, I miss edge cases, introduce more bugs. Always plenty of cleanup work for me to do later. I get interrupted in the middle of things, with no warnings, so I can't throw the current state of my program into long-term storage, and forget where I was. I might think I completed the thing, when I had one last thing to do instead. Idiots.
I’m with you on everything you stated. I program in VERY open cube-filled room where the cube walls are shorter than my height even when sitting down. My team combats a lot of this with noise-cancelling headphones, or just talking about the issue out loud to each other. Still, I can think of so many days when I’m struggling with a bug and someone is having a loud, distracting conversation nearby and completely wrecking my concentration. Those projects take so much longer because I end up making things worse. I need a quiet closet to sit in on those days.
Load More Replies...As a programmer of 23 years, I can confirm.. that I feel like everybody's been keeping a secret from me. Is there some mysterious programmer club that I never got invited to? Why is everyone is talking like it's an initiation rite or something yet I've never heard of this?
Cultural differences, maybe. To be honest, I never heard of this either. But it's a cute and funny story, so I chose to play along.
Load More Replies...Great writing,congrats. Very well known solutiom wich works as a charm. Hre you can find something more about rubber ducks: https://www.boredpanda.com/lost-in-action-moby-tub-duck/ https://catweazlemagic.exto.org/kunstwerken/107417_Curiosa.html
I cannot stop laughing when I stumbled cross this article. It is so funny, but it can also work for not just programmers, for myself who need to think more sharply and assemble data and thoughts in an organized way, solve problems.
Is awesome to discover how much rubber duck debugging works! I've used it since discovering this technique. If you want to show the world you are a rubber duck debugger follow this link: https://programmerswillconquer.com/collections/gadgets
I just thought they were all James Veitch fans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5d8pVg3Qtg
148
22