Hi non-tech friend. I'm going to tell you about a simple problem I somehow solved in an elegant way. Ready? Let's go.
Once upon a time, I got stuck on a problem. After hours and hours of searching high and low on the internet
to figure out why, and trying every variation of code there was, I realised I was using the name of the variable defined
in the previous exercise...basically, that means I was using the next-door neighbour's house key to try and open my door.
Once I realised that, I was equally relieved and frustrated....but mostly relieved.
Though I was barking up the wrong tree 90% of the time, I did use a range of problem-solving techniques.
I whispered what I was trying to achieve ASMR-style into my new microphone (also known as the rubber ducky method).
I googled and waded through the haystack that was the internet. I went through the emotions of feeling incompetent, frustrated with myself
and playing "Thank you, Next!" because that's kinda wanted to do with the entire kata challenge...just move on.
After all that, I learnt that I need to take several chill pills, as well as being sure to nail syntax to save time. I also learnt to be
extra attentive to what's in front of you before searching online to make drastic changes to your code, because maybe it's
only really just a small thing that's out of place.
My preferred method of problem-solving for this Sprint is probably the Rubber Ducky method. The error messages can sometimes be of help, but when that's all you seem to see again and again, it's no surprise that it can kind of fall to the side in favour of other options. Console.logging is something I used in one of the challenges to see where I was at and see what I had to work with. Google is great but can be a waste of time if you don't know EXACTLY what you want. I feel so uncomfortable asking my peers for anything. I come from a competitive background where peers are competition. The mindset that's difficult to shake is that they have no reason to help me and I have no reason to trust them. I know that there is the ability to ask facilitators, and I guess I could, but I knwo they are busy and would rather figure it out alone. Lastly, reflection is wonderful when you already have the skills, but I feel too new to have anything to reflect with, so perhaps in the future that will be a great option for me.