The Scientific Method of Troubleshooting

This version of the talk was presented at Distill 2014 and GoGaRuCo 2014.

Transcript

1. The
   Scientific Method
   of Troubleshooting
   

   View Slide

2. @blithe
   

   View Slide

3. Big Nerd Ranch
   Atlanta, Georgia
   

   View Slide

4. Scientist
   

   View Slide

5. PhD in
   Physical
   Chemistry
   

   View Slide

6. Physics
   

   View Slide

7. Chemistry
   

   View Slide

8. 6 Years!
   

   View Slide

9. Experiments
   

   View Slide

10. Scientific
    Method
    

    View Slide

11. Developer
    < >
    

    View Slide

12. StackOverflow
    

    View Slide

13. Problem solved?
    

    View Slide

14. Learn anything?
    

    View Slide

15. Most Important Part
    

    View Slide

16. Scientific
    Method
    

    View Slide

17. Set of Techniques
    For Acquiring
    Knowledge
    

    View Slide

18. Methodical
    

    View Slide

19. Systematic
    

    View Slide

20. “Has anyone seen
    string interpolation
    fail?”
    

    View Slide

21. Define
    the Problem
    2 3 4 5 6 7
    1
    

    View Slide

22. Expected behavior?
    !
    !
    !
    

    View Slide

23. Expected behavior?
    !
    Actual behavior?
    !
    

    View Slide

24. Expected behavior?
    !
    Actual behavior?
    !
    Criteria for success?
    

    View Slide

25. Do Your
    Research
    3 4 5 6 7
    Define 2
    

    View Slide

26. Know your
    environment
    

    View Slide

27. Read the literature
    

    View Slide

28. Discussions
    

    View Slide

29. Make it fail!
    

    View Slide

30. Establish a
    Hypothesis
    5 6 7
    Define Research 4
    3
    

    View Slide

31. Design
    the Experiment
    6 7
    Define Research Hypothesis 5
    4
    

    View Slide

32. Divide and conquer!
    

    View Slide

33. Limit the variables
    

    View Slide

34. Try something weird
    

    View Slide

35. View Slide

36. Hierarchy of Blame
    

    View Slide

37. Gather
    Data
    6 7
    Define Research Hypothesis Experiment 5
    

    View Slide

38. Current status?
    

    View Slide

39. Read the error
    message!
    

    View Slide

40. Analyze
    Your Results
    7
    Define Research Data
    Hypothesis Experiment 6
    

    View Slide

41. Problem solved?
    !
    Learn anything?
    

    View Slide

42. Understand the Why
    

    View Slide

43. Future Experiments
    

    View Slide

44. Embrace the Success
    

    View Slide

45. Keep a Good
    Lab Notebook
    Define Research Data
    Hypothesis Experiment Analyze 7
    

    View Slide

46. View Slide

47. You won’t
    remember
    

    View Slide

48. Logs aren’t enough
    

    View Slide

49. Commit Messages
    

    View Slide

50. Update the Docs
    

    View Slide

51. Contribute
    

    View Slide

52. View Slide

53. Share
    the
    Knowledge
    

    View Slide

54. !
    Questions?
    Thanks!
    @blithe
    

    View Slide