JargonFile/entries/rubber_duck_debugging.txt

rubber duck debugging

Hackers can sometimes get hung up on particular coding problems or bug fixes.
When this happens it can sometimes be useful to deploy the rubber duck
debugging method, which is to explain your problem (or how you think the
system should work) to someone else. If you don't have a willing accomplice
then an inanimate object - such as a rubber duck - will do. The act of
explaining or trying to teach someone forces you to think about the problem
from different angles and so may lead to a breakthrough. This is related to
developmental psychology and the notion of thought as subsumed language and
language as a behavior regulation system. Defects and hangups in your
language machine may become more obvious if you invoke it explicitly and
try to turn that into a coherent narrative. Just ask Dr Freud.