Rubber duck debugging
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What is Rubber duck debugging?
Explaining a problem out loud, step by step, often to an inanimate object, to notice mistakes that were easy to miss while thinking silently.
Rubber duck debugging works because speaking forces you to slow down and make each assumption explicit. The moment you explain the logic clearly, the bug or bad assumption often becomes obvious.
How it relates to Orbit
Apollo, Orbit’s co-pilot, is a talking duck that also knows your project’s live state. See Apollo, the Co-pilot for details.
When you would use it
You use rubber duck debugging when you are stuck and need a different way to inspect your own reasoning.
Common operations
- Debugging confusing logic
- Checking assumptions aloud
- Spotting missing steps in a process
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Where this is taught
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