In software engineering, rubber duck debugging or rubber ducking is a method of debugging code. The name is a reference to a story in the book The Pragmatic Programmer in which a programmer would carry around a rubber duck and debug their code by forcing themselves to explain it, line-by-line, to the duck. Many other terms exist for this technique, often involving different inanimate objects.
Many programmers have had the experience of explaining a problem to someone else, possibly even to someone who knows nothing about programming, and then hitting upon the solution in the process of explaining the problem. In describing what the code is supposed to do and observing what it actually does, any incongruity between these two becomes apparent. More generally, teaching a subject forces its evaluation from different perspectives and can provide a deeper understanding. By using an inanimate object, the programmer can try to accomplish this without having to interrupt anyone else.
Video Rubber duck debugging
See also
- Code review
- Pair programming
- Socratic method
- Software walkthrough
- The Aha! effect
- Think aloud protocol
Maps Rubber duck debugging
References
External links
- Rubber duck debugging : site honoring the method.
- Rubber Duck Problem Solving : Coding Horror blog.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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