If you are a software developer chances are you’ve already heard of rubber ducking or even better, you are practicing it.
For those that haven’t heard of it, this peculiar concept is introduced when talking about debugging strategies in one of the most exceptional books about software development: The Pragmatic Programmer.
A very simple but particularly useful technique for finding the cause of a problem is simply to explain it to someone else. The other person should look over your shoulder at the screen, and nod his or her head constantly (like a rubber duck bobbing up and down in a bathtub). They do not need to say a word; the simple act of explaining, step by step, what the code is supposed to do often causes the problem to leap off the screen and announce itself.
Hunt, A. & Thomas, D. (2000), The Pragmatic programmer : from journeyman to master , Addison-Wesley , Boston [etc.] .
A footnote explains that Dave Thomas worked with a guy named Greg Pugh who was an exceptional developer. Greg carried around a rubber duck which he would place on his terminal while coding. So, it’s Dave and Greg who we have to thank for this almost crazy and comical but remarkably useful technique. It is a bit crazy, isn’t it? talking to an inanimate object.
Since we don’t necessarily have to use a rubber duck, the inanimate object of my choice in 2018 during a period in which I coded day and night was Wilson. I spent a lot of time explaining things to him because I was building a React app from scratch and I had no previous experience in React. Also, there were a lot unknowns and as usual, there was strong deadline to push things to production.
It’s 2020, Wilson is still around, somewhere. Writing a blog is one of those things I’ve always said I should do but kept postponing because every time I was about to start I felt overwhelmed. I used to ask myself “where do I start from? how do I get an audience? what’s the purpose? what should I even write about?” and then I had that “Aha! moment” so typical in my conversations with Wilson.
This epiphany may seem obvious to many, but it’s something new to me (otherwise it wouldn’t be an epiphany, right?). What I suddenly understood is that this blog will be my new rubber duck, my new Wilson. I don’t have to explain things to an audience, I feel the need to explain things or express my ideas to understand them better myself.
hello duck!
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