Rubber Ducking --- this actually works

jazz_snob

I used to bug my co-worker and tell him what problem I was trying to solve and by the time I got done describing it, I figured out what I needed to do. Same principle here, except the rubber duck is probably a better developer (just kidding Jason).

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RubberDucking

NogDog

How well does that compare to the toilet seat syndrome (coming up with a great idea or remembering something your forgot while sitting on the toilet)? 😉

Krik

Place a rubber duck on your monitor and describe your problems to it

Hope you have a private office otherwise they may find you a nice "white suit" and room that has a decor exclusively of foam.

You can also write an email to a mailing list or newsgroup. While you will not have the acoustic feedback in this case, at least it forces you to bring your thoughts into order. So in 90% you will not need to send the email because you've already found the solution.

Yea done that at least a hundred times on these forums. Started typing out the question and suddenly a word or phrase makes me rethink my search criteria.

NogDog;10961355 wrote:
How well does that compare to the toilet seat syndrome (coming up with a great idea or remembering something your forgot while sitting on the toilet)? 😉

I have on several occasions come up with new ideas or figured out a solutions when I am driving, and usually hours from the closest computer. Once tried taking my laptop with me as I have web server setup on it. But I decided against using it, as one might imagine, 70 mph writing code is truly insane.

cretaceous

I have a small, but mean looking, crocodile on my monitor stand - will that work as well?

.. but yeah me too -
I've written posts here only to figure out the solution
just stating clearly what the problem is often highlights the fault

and lieing awake at night I can sometimes figure out an approach to a problem

NogDog

I just did that yesterday here. I was having trouble wrapping my tired brain around how to design something, started writing up a post here to get opinions, and after typing a couple paragraphs to describe the problem and what I'd thought of so far, suddenly a perfectly sensible approach popped into my mind, and I hit the "back" button. 🙂

Krik

and I hit the "back" button.

Now there's a thought, the most commonly used feature on PHP Builders forums is the back button.

Probably "Post Reply" is very close second.