webdev-resources

Think Like a Programmer

This is the most important rule!

Having a plan is always possible.
Plans may require alteration or scrapping altogether, but you should always have one before you tackle a problem.
✅ Planning allows you to set and reach smaller, immediate goals.
❌ Without a plan, your only goal is to solve the whole problem.
The first step of every plan is: “Formally restate the problem.”
- Once you do that, you’ve already accomplished your first objective!

“I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
– General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
– Helmuth von Moltke

Think about the nature of the problem itself. It can be just as, if not more, productive than thinking about the path to a solution.
🫤 OK: List specific actions/tasks required to solve the problem.
1. Carry the fox across the river.
2. Carry the goose across the river.
3. Carry the corn across the river.
✅ Better: Parameterize (make generic) the operations.
1. Row the boat across the shore.
2. If the boat is empty, load an item from the shore.
3. If the boat isn’t empty, unload the item onto the shore.

Dividing the problem into smaller chunks can lower difficulty by an order of magnitude!
- ❌ Alphabetize 100 files individually, one after another.
- ✅ Sort files into 2 piles, A-M and N-Z, before alphabetizing.

Strategy > Trial & Error
- Working with a specific goal is always better than random effort.
Look for ways to divide the problem.
- Experiment with reduced versions of problem.

Start with what you can do and work outward from there.
- Partial solutions often inspire solutions elsewhere.
Try to make repairs with the tools you have before purchasing new ones.

Constraints are your friend; look for the most constrained variable first.
- They eliminate choices and simplify possible solutions.
most constrained variable: the variable that has the lowest number of possible values (i.e., the most restrictive consideration).
Start with what’s obvious.
- If you can solve part of a problem, do it!

Stuck? Add or remove constraints until you know how to solve a particular condition.
Reducing problems allows you to pinpoint where remaining difficulty lies.

Recognizing analogies is the most difficult skill because it requires experience and solutions to reference.

This puzzle is analogous to the Fox, Goose, and Corn problem from earlier.
The sooner you make connections to analogies for which you already have solutions, the less work you’ll have to do.

Frustration is an excuse to continue to fail.
- Take a real break and don’t think about the problem.
- Or focus your attention on another problem and return to the original problem later.
Never forget the first rule: Always have a plan.
- If your original plan doesn’t pan out, make another plan. And repeat.