Rubber Duck Debugging
The duck has attained a certain status at Ergon. You'll find one on almost every desk. But how did the myth of the Ergon Duck come about? Let's explore its backstory.
Rubber duck debugging describes a process in which the programmer explains their code line by line to a 'rubber duck', i.e. someone who knows nothing about programming. Describing a program in natural language can reveal bugs in the code. Having a rubber duck standing in for a real person means there's no need to bother anyone else. It sounds light-hearted, but rubber ducking is seriously helpful in many ways, not least in quality assurance.
Have your say. Help design the next Ergon Duck
f.l.t.r.: Nerd Duck, Jubilee Duck and Coffee Duck
We don't want any burnt-out rubber ducks at Ergon, so we regularly retire the old ones and bring in the next bug-eating generation. The first Nerd Duck was a classic representation of our passion for software development. It was succeeded by our Jubilee Duck to mark 35 years in the business. Next came the Coffee Duck. Ergonians do love their coffee.
As part of our involvement in VIScon, we gathered creative ideas from like-minded souls, and let you have your say on how the new Ergon Duck should look. Everyone who takes part in the Duck Challenge and the vote will receive one of the exclusive latest brood in the post. Here you can order the next Ergon rubber duck.