Problem solving encompasses a number of techniques known as algorithms, heuristics, root cause analysis, etc.
38
votes
15answers
2k views
Dealing with frustration when things don't work
You ever try to implement something simple but for some strange reason it doesn't work.
So you try a possible solution but then something else doesn't work. You keep trying different workarounds but ...
36
votes
25answers
11k views
How can I improve my problem-solving ability?
Everyone says the same thing: "a real programmer knows how to handle real problems." But they forget how they learned this ability or where: it's not taught in schools.
What can I do to improve my ...
34
votes
12answers
3k views
What programming language generates fewest hard-to-find bugs? [closed]
What language, in your opinion, allows the average programmer to output features with the least amount of hard-to-find bugs? This is of course, a very broad question, and I'm interested in very broad ...
30
votes
11answers
1k views
Is thinking out loud during an interview really the best strategy?
In another question I asked recently about best practices for whiteboarding, there was general consensus that thinking out loud while coming up with the answer was the best strategy.
Indeed, long ...
27
votes
9answers
671 views
Abstraction: The War between solving the problem and a general solution [closed]
As a programmer, I find myself in the dilemma where I want make my program as abstract and as general as possible.
Doing so usually would allow me to reuse my code and have a more general solution ...
23
votes
10answers
2k views
How to handle conflicts between developers in your team?
This is happening in every team.
For some reasons, a conflicts arise in the team and they affect the overall motivation and productivity.
What is your recommended approach to solve that common ...
22
votes
10answers
738 views
Where do you draw the line for your perfectionism?
Perfectionism may be good and bad when programming.
When and where do you draw the line when you are problem solving?
When do you decide when a solution is overkill, too general or simply too ...
18
votes
10answers
2k views
Is “White-Board-Coding” inappropriate during interviews?
This is a somewhat subjective quesiton but I'd love to hear feedback/opinions from either interviewers/interviewees on the topic.
We split our technical part into 4 parts. Write Code, Read & ...
16
votes
14answers
699 views
When do you get your best ideas? [closed]
Are there certain activities that provide inspiration at unexpected times?
One that I've noticed is when I'm mowing the lawn or shoveling snow - living in Minnesota it seems I'm always doing one or ...
15
votes
16answers
804 views
Are there non-programming related activities akin to solving programming problems? [closed]
I'm talking about particular activities, for which you can draw parallels with the specific kind of reasoning needed when solving programming problems.
Counter examples are activities that would help ...
14
votes
1answer
693 views
How to avoid jumping to a solution when under pressure?
When under a particularly strict programming deadline (like an hour), if I panic at all, my tendency is to jump into coding without a real plan and hope I figure it out as I go along. Given enough ...
12
votes
10answers
721 views
Should I be worried if I solve a lot of my problems the same way?
I really enjoy programming games and puzzle creators/games. I find myself engineering a lot of these problems the same way and ultimately using similar technique to program them that I'm really ...
12
votes
10answers
543 views
Why does not thinking about a bug sometimes help you solve it?
Yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon trying to fix a bug, which I thought to be trivial. I was going around in circles, not having a clue what was wrong. Rewriting large parts of the code. ...
12
votes
6answers
388 views
When to prefer a generalized solution over solving specific cases
In programming we're often faced with a choice: cover each conceivable use case individually, or solve the general problem:
Its obvious that solving the immediate problem is faster, however ...
12
votes
8answers
801 views
In an interview, is it better to code a brute-force solution to a tough question, or to spend the interview examining the question carefully?
Sometimes interview questions are hard, whether the interviewer intends them to be, or not. It can come down to a choice of whether to use the limited interview time to code up an ugly, inefficient, ...
