Debugging Lessons from a 3-Year-Old

My daughter doesn't care about the stack trace. She cares about why the blue block won't stay on the red block.

When we debug complex distributed systems, we often skip the "Why?" and go straight to the "How do I fix the symptom?"

The Toddler Method

1. Ask "Why?" until you reach the atomic truth.
2. If it breaks, laugh and try again.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for a snack (or a break) when you're stuck.