#coding #debug #strategy

When I’m debugging a problem sometimes I get really frustrated and I start writing up a post on Social Media complaining about my current situation/bug. Most of the time after writing this post, I go back to trying to fix the problem and more often than not I find an answer.

This may sound like rubber duck debugging to you but I think there is something a bit different here. When rubber duck debugging, I often am trying to explain the problem. When SMC debugging (social media complaint), I am really just whining about the whole universe and why it sucks and woe is me. This tricks the benevolent gods into making me look foolish by providing me with the solution just moments after writing the SMC. Often this works even without posting the SMC. My success rate for this is fairly high.

I think technique it is sort of a middle ground between rubber duck debugging and sock-puppet debugging or Cunningham’s Law. You can probably hybridize an SMC with a sock puppet debug by posting the wrong answer in your SMC and seeing if anyone replies with the correct one.