[Rails World 2025 Lighting Talks] Where is it?! - Avoiding the XY Problem

Learn how to ask better questions and answer better answers avoiding the XY problem

Transcript

1. Where is it?! Avoiding the XY Problem @talyssonoc
2. Talysson Oliveira Software architect & Chief Learning Officer at Codeminer42
3. codeminer42.com @codeminer42
4. What is the XY problem?
5. I need to get a file extension, but idk how to do it (Problem X)
6. Oh, I just need to read the 2 last chars of the file name! But idk how to do it either… (Problem Y)
7. Hey, so… how do I get the 2 last chars of a file name?
8. Hey, so… how do I get the 2 last chars of a file name? What?! That's such a weird question, but…
9. Well, you can do: string[-2, 2]
10. Hum, so… it didn't work for my HTML file, can you actually help me??? 💧
11. 💧 #@*&%! ?????
12. OH! You want to get the file extension?! (Problem X)
13. Yes!
14. File.extname(file_name) 😲
15. 💧 Hum, so… it didn't work for my HTML file
16. 💧 You're absolutely right! Here's <another answer that won't solve the problem!>
17. :)
18. Where was the answer?!
19. 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
20. 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
21. AVOID THE XY PROBLEM
22. Thank you! codeminer42.com @codeminer42