Have you ever really thought about what an odd process debugging is?
You sit there, pitter patting away at the keyboard, staring at the screen.
Looking for something you know is there, because it manifests itself
or because you know it is there. Switching editors, adding prints,
running debuggers. Trying to logically eliminate the problem.

I don't think I have ever logically eliminated a bug. The solution comes to you,
Like a flash.
Like enlightenment, what was previously mysterious is now clear.
Logic helped, I have no doubts. But the solution does not come from logic.
The real solution is comes from somewhere else, I don't know the place.
But I can feel it and I know I have entered that place.
It feels like returning home.

When I try to explain what coding is like, I always try to explain debugging.
A fruitless exercise, like explaining the moon to those who do not look up.
Still, the reflection of the moon in water can show them what to look for.
I think the Hacker's worldview is shaped by debugging. Dealing with the
computer is like dealing with reality. Harsh, Sharp, Unforgiving.
Though Life is a taskmaster far more cruel than the interpreter.

Monks gain insite into life by their way of viewing reality.
Hackers gain insite into life by how they debug.
I've never met a good Hacker that couldn't debug.

Crulx

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