This talk is about 'thinking'. Most of the time we take the process for granted, but so much of our daily lives depends on effective use of this most basic of abilities. So how does this pertain to extracting wisdom from stupidity? I hope to show you not _what_, but _how_ I learned by being stupid - and that the programmers love of logic can sometimes be as much an asset as an obstacle.

1. THE STORY OF A RAFFLER
Extracting wisdom from stupidity

2. About me
Ramon de la Fuente
Future500 B.V.
@f_u_e_n_t_e
SweetlakePHP

6. –Edward de Bono
“The purpose of the book has been to shift
attention from the problems themselves to the
way the mind tackles them”

7. Stupidity
The words "stupid" and "stupidity" entered the
English language in 1541. Since then, stupidity
has taken place along with "fool," "idiot,"
"dumb," "moron," and related concepts as a
pejorative appellation for human misdeeds,
whether purposeful or accidental, due to absence
of mental capacity.
Stupidity is a quality or state of being stupid, or
an act or idea that exhibits properties of being
stupid.

8. Code experiment
• 1. Write throw-away code
• 2. That performs some function
• 3. Wait, what??

10. Domcode Raffler Rules
• 1. Accept a filename as the first CLI argument.
• 2. The file will contain a n delimited list of names
• 3. Echo a single random name from the list

13. –Johnny Appleseed
“Type a quote here.”

17. Code experiment
• 1. Write a raffler
• 2. Using every “array_” function in PHP
• 3. Exactly once

18. Insight

19. Sequential

20. Strategic

21. Logical Thinking Lateral Thinking

22. Logical Thinking Lateral Thinking
A
B
C
A
B
C
Y

23. Logical Thinking Lateral Thinking
A
B…Y
Z
A
Z
C
Y

24. Evolution

25. Evolution

26. Evolution

27. Evolution
–Matt Groening

28. The Six Stages of Debugging
1. That can't happen.
2. That doesn't happen on my machine.
3. That shouldn't happen.
4. Why is that happening?
5. Oh, I see
6. How did that ever work?

29. The Six Stages of Debugging
1. That can't happen.
2. That doesn't happen on my machine.
3. That shouldn't happen.
4. Why is that happening?
5. Oh, I see
6. How did that ever work?

30. • It forces you to plan before you code.
• It virtually eliminates coder's block.
• Writing Unit tests will improve the design.
Test Driven Development?

31. Scenario: Starting a game
Given the dictionary provides "coconut"
When I start a game using the dictionary
Then there should be 11 guesses available
And the revealed word should be "_______"
Test Driven Development?

32. Scenario: Starting a game
Given the dictionary provides "coconut"
When I start a game using the dictionary
Then there should be 11 guesses available
And the revealed word should be "_______"
Test Driven Development?

33. Scenario: Starting a game
Given the dictionary provides "coconut"
When I start a game using the dictionary
Then there should be 11 guesses available
And the revealed word should be "_______"
Test Driven Development?

34. Problem Solving

35. Problem Solving

36. Problem Solving

37. Better solution
Problem Solving
Barely working solution

38. Problem Solving

39. Better solution
Problem Solving
Barely working solution

40. Problem Solving

41. Problem Solving

42. ✓ ✗✓
Problem Solving

43. Problem Solving

44. Problem Solving

45. Problem Solving
SINGLETONS
GOTO
SERVICE LOCATOR

46. Problem Solving
SINGLETONS
GOTO
SERVICE LOCATOR

47. Problem Solving

48. Problem Solving

49. Problem Solving

50. Problem Solving

51. Problem Solving

52. –Edward de Bono
“Excellent thinking is of no use if based on an
incorrect assumption”

53. Problem Solving
You solve a Rubik’s Cube layer by layer,
by applying fixed sequences of moves,
leaving previously solved layers intact.

54. Problem Solving
You solve a Rubik’s Cube layer by layer,
by applying fixed sequences of moves,
leaving previously solved layers intact.
a programming problem
general patterns

55. Building a Raffler

56. Building a Raffler

57. Building a Raffler

58. Building a Raffler
• Separate by return value
• Add complexity score
• Group similar functions together
• Create composable blocks

59. Building a Raffler

60. Building a Raffler

61. Building a Raffler
/* returns original array */
.

62. Building a Raffler

63. Building a Raffler

64. Building a Raffler

65. Building a Raffler

66. Building a Raffler

67. Relevance?

68. Relevance?
“…do I use this interface, or not?”
– Senior developer

69. Relevance?
“…do I use this interface, or not?”
– Junior developer

70. Relevance?
“…I don’t understand how this can happen”
“…how could I make this happen??”

71. Further reading

72. “Experience is a museum for mistakes”
– Edward de Bono

73. Feedback on Joind.in: 16863
@f_u_e_n_t_e