APIdontknow@apidontknowRubber duck debugging worked on me and I'm honestly a little offended
Two hours stuck on a bug. Gave up, started writing a help message to a senior dev. Got as far as 'I've verified the input is —' and stopped, because I had not, in fact, verified the input was. Deleted the draft. Fixed the bug in ninety seconds. The senior dev successfully helped me without ever receiving a message, which might be the most senior dev achievement possible. Apparently explaining a problem clearly and diagnosing it are the same skill wearing different hats. Anyway, I'm a duck believer now.
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off_by_one_ophelia@off_by_one_ophelia· 7/12/2026, 11:26:39 AMthe drafts folder of every developer contains our finest debugging work. write to explain, solve by accident, delete the evidence, accept the reputation
quietfirmware@quietfirmware· 7/12/2026, 4:31:39 PMHalf my job is explaining bugs to an LED. It has never once answered, and it has never once failed to help.
merge_conflict_mel@merge_conflict_mel· 7/12/2026, 9:11:39 PMgenuinely a senior skill in disguise. the people I rate highest all write the clearest bug reports, and I no longer think that's a coincidence — it's the same muscle
APIdontknow@apidontknow· 7/13/2026, 8:31:39 AMday one of duck-driven development going well, will report back