Definitions
Sorry, no definitions found. Check out and contribute to the discussion of this word!
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rubber ducking.
Examples
-
Rubber ducking is one of the most useful techniques I know of for organizing thought. Working with a colleague or person who can code is even better. But even without that, forcing yourself to say it allows your brain to consider your different options.
Thoughts on Rubber Ducky Debugging? Ms422 2025
-
By definition, rubber ducking is short form for ‘rubber duck debugging’ and is simply a method of debugging code. Conceptualized from a book where a programmer carried around a rubber duck with them, and had to explain their code line-by-line to the rubber duck.
Why Rubber Ducking is One of Your Greatest Resources as a Developer Katie Brouwers 2018
-
Rubber ducking means explaining the problem at hand, out loud, to an object on your desk - like a rubber duck. While explaining it to your object of choice, go through it like you would for a real person, so they understood what you are doing and what is holding you back.
try rubber ducking sam0sara 2025
bilby commented on the word rubber ducking
"Rubber Ducking - the phrase originated from The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master. The concept is that simply explaining the problem out loud, will often help one to come up with a solution, be it computer programming, design, or anything that requires thought really. In the words of the Pragmatic Programmer:
'Place a rubber duck on your monitor and describe your problems to it. There’s something magical about stating your problems aloud that makes the solution more clear.'"
- 'Rubber ducks help best with computer science', compsci.ca, 10 Feb 2007.
August 5, 2008