The Science and Magic of Debugging

Explore the cognitive process and scientific approach to debugging in this RubyConf 2021 talk. Delve into the challenges of debugging, understanding its complexity and the mental models involved. Learn how to apply Bloom's Taxonomy and the scientific method to improve your debugging skills. Discover techniques for gathering knowledge, checking assumptions, and making debugging more accessible. Gain insights into the problem-solving aspects of debugging and how it relates to the learning process. Equip yourself with a general framework for debugging that can be applied to Ruby programs and beyond, demystifying the process and empowering you to become a more effective debugger.

Syllabus

The Science + Magic of Debugging
it's been a minute
vimeo
joy of learning
magical
how do I know what I know?
problem solving
debugging is hard
context
combinatorial complexity
mental model
approximations
what's happening in our brains?
the steps the programmer took
bloom's taxonomy is how we learn
we climb bloom's taxonomy while debugging
when we're debugging, we're learning
how do we gather our knowledge?
A General Framework for Debugging
bloom's taxonomy + scientific method
to be good debuggers, we need to be good at gathering knowledge
to be good debuggers, we must always check our assumptions
what are we doing when we debug?
applying
everyone can do it
make debugging more accessible
debugging is not magic!