Where is it?! Avoiding the XY Problem @talyssonoc 

Talysson Oliveira Software architect & Chief Learning Officer at Codeminer42 

codeminer42.com @codeminer42 

What is the XY problem? 

I need to get a file extension, but idk how to do it (Problem X) 

Oh, I just need to read the 2 last chars of the file name! But idk how to do it either… (Problem Y) 

Hey, so… how do I get the 2 last chars of a file name? 

Hey, so… how do I get the 2 last chars of a file name? What?! That's such a weird question, but… 

Well, you can do: string[-2, 2] 

Hum, so… it didn't work for my HTML file, can you actually help me??? 💧 

💧 #@*&%! ????? 

OH! You want to get the file extension?! (Problem X) 

Yes! 

File.extname(file_name) 😲 

💧 Hum, so… it didn't work for my HTML file 

💧 You're absolutely right! Here's 

:) 

Where was the answer?! 

Asking smart questions - Don't theorize solutions before understanding the problem - Do not have "asking an AI" as your first alternative - AIs won't find conceptual gaps on your question, they'll always have an answer, even if that answer is misleading - Read official documentation about the problem - You might solve it yourself at this point! - Gather all the context and info about your previous attempts - And then ask for help (to a person or an AI) about the problem, not about your theory for a possible solution - Don't expect anyone to make decisions for you 

Answering questions smartly - Do not give an answer if the question is confusing - Answering as quick as possible might make you feel good. Resist it - It might actually hinder the progress if you do that irresponsibly - Ask for more context and information - Make sure you understand the problem as well - Make it clear when you're not certain about your answer - And then answer the question 

AVOID THE XY PROBLEM 

Thank you! codeminer42.com @codeminer42