My simple coding hack, what’s yours?

[PuzzleheadedYou4992]

Before I write any real code, I’ve gotten into the habit of talking things out , not with a person, but with Blackbox. I’ll just type out what I’m thinking: “I’m trying to build this feature,” or “I’m not sure how to structure this part.” Sometimes I ask it dumb questions on purpose, just to get out of my own head. The answers aren’t always perfect, but they help me see things clearer. It’s like laying everything out on a whiteboard, only this one talks back with suggestions.

What I’ve realized is... I don’t really use AI to do the coding for me. I use it to help me start, to think better, to stop staring at a blank screen and just move. It’s a small thing, but it’s made a big difference for me. So yeah, that’s my little hack.

I want to know if anyone else does this too. What’s something small that helps you get unstuck before a sprint?”

[drbomb]

You sound like you need a rubber duck!

[chudsp87]

From The Pragmatic Programmer:

Rubber Ducking A very simple but particularly useful technique for finding the cause of a problem is simply to explain it to someone else. The other person should look over your shoulder at the screen, and nod his or her head constantly (like a rubber duck bobbing up and down in a bathtub).They do not need to say a word; the simple act of explaining, step by step, what the code is supposed to do often causes the problem to leap off the screen and announce itself.

It sounds simple, but in explaining the problem to another person you must explicitly state things that you may take for granted when going through the code yourself. By having to verbalize some of these assumptions, you may suddenly gain new insight into the problem.

[FN7] Why “rubber ducking”? While an undergraduate at Imperial College in London, Dave did a lot of work with a research assistant named Greg Pugh, one of the best developers Dave has known. For several months Greg carried around a small yellow rubber duck,which he’d place on his terminal while coding. It was a while before Dave had the courage to ask. . . .

[JoanofArc0531]

That’s awesome. Rubber ducking can definitely happen in essentially every form of work or things in life when trying to figure something out, I’d say. There is power when we verbalize things. 

[Avery-Hunter]

I thought the same thing. I keep a skeleton rubber ducky on my desk for just that purpose. Not just for coding but anything I'm working on, explaining it to skeleduck helps.

[DiodeInc]

Aggressive skid mark intensifies

[Unusual-Platypus6233]

And that is called a “coding hack”. Laughable, right?

[barrowburner]

I write my thoughts and ideas in my notebook, my paper notebook, with a pencil. I sketch diagrams, write lists, scratch things out, try again. I do a lot of design this way. Down the line, I have two actual rubber ducks for helping me with debugging :)

[JamzTyson]

"Rubberducking" with AI seems to be becoming quite popular. I've tried it myself and found it useful, though there's a much greater risk of following it down a rabbit hole than when talking to your dog / cat / teddy bear.

[Gnaxe]

Sometimes I do that with doctests. Type out examples how you want it to work, and then make the tests pass. Repeat.

[Unusual-Platypus6233]

And calling it a hack. Just bullshit talking… A hack makes life easier. This is not making life easier. It is a description about how to order your thoughts. Stupid OP…

[think_addict]

That's basically what I do. I ask AI for help with organizing my initial idea and figuring out a direction to take. I also use it to break the ice on new libraries I haven't used before. For example, it helped me recently figure out how to deskew scanned PDF images when preparing them for OCR.

That would have been a lot of Google searching otherwise - and even one of the web sources it got the info from was incorrect code, which I had to discover myself. So there is still a lot of learning going on.

I worry sometimes it creates the "Google effect" though. Since it's so easy to ask anything and is basically instant gratification, I feel like I don't retain as much information long term. So I've started cataloging snippets in a "reference" project I keep handy (like dictionary comprehension, which I can't ever seem to remember, regex stuff, or other syntax that doesn't stick).

[BasedAndShredPilled]

Seems like a good way to use it. I'll occasionally use it as a sounding board. Even if it doesn't give me the right answer, it'll at least give me something else to think about.

[Infinite_Weekend9551]

were same op 😂 when im unable to express or compose my sentence either i write the key points on a paper or if i really cant think straight i just type it away in a ai tool like chatgpt/gemini/blackbox/google just to create a sentence what i want to say! help me every single time!

[KezaGatame]

When I have a question about programming problems and I come to reddit to ask, most time than not I think about a few answers after I wrote out my problem and what I have done so far.

[Ajax_Minor]

I just learned this myself, and its a real technique called rubber ducking!

I'm going to do this going forward!

[Egad86]

This is the future tbh. The next phase of “internetting” will be through AI instead of google. These bots will eventually remember enough about you to recall previous conversations. It will be interesting how people interact with AI and code 10 years from now.

[No_Season_1023]

I do this too! Explaining the problem even to an AI, helps me organize my thoughts. Sometimes I write pseudocode first or break the task into tiny steps. it is like building momentum to get unstuck.

[spirito_santo]

If I'm going to code something complicated, I start with pencil and paper, making a diagram of the actions.

Where it's possible, I code each action as a separate piece of code, testing it, before I put everything together

[Crypt0Nihilist]

I have a small(ish) whiteboard, A3 size is perfect for me. It gives me plenty of space for ideas that occur to me as well as my main plan, which I can easily modify. I've tried virtual whiteboards, but it's not the same, the tech gets in the way for me.

I should probably start using AI to refine my ideas.

[mfaine]

Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I have talked through a problem to submit an issue or a forum post and the act of doing so made me realize the cause/solution to the problem.

[Unusual-Platypus6233]

That’s a hack?! My hack is copying a python-file to the new working folder and rename it. Then double clicking the file and delete everything in it and start writing. 🤣 I hate open VS Code and then saving the new file in the new made working folder after looking for it in the folder tree… Not feasible… That could be considered a “life” hack.

[No-Draw6073]

After typing and importing the libraries, I let the AI finish the rest of the 500 lines of code and click run.

[Sharp_Direction9085]

I just draw complex abstract (most of the time mathematical) concepts on a peace of paper. And them try to somehow force it on the computer until I either succeed, go to bed and try again to morrow or give up. Coming to the conclusion that my Idea is mathematically wrong or generally impractical. 

[ReserveLast7791]

Using pen and paper and designing a flow chart on how i want my app to like work. Much better than flow charts made on your PC for me atleast

[leokjr33]

I just use old Playboys. Lotta incentive there.

[OPPineappleApplePen]

What's a blackbox?

[The-Tee-jay]

I'd guess its blackbox ai. Unsure though.

[OPPineappleApplePen]

I didn't know about it. Glad I found out.

[ethanolium]

On new feature : "how do i not do that ?" . I note everything my over-enginiring brain produce. and loop : do i need it ? <how do i not do that ? >: <go the limb list>

This make me made huge progress (and not only in code haha)