Rubber Duck

A most beloved object on any persons desk, whether you are a seasoned programmer or just a little kid — the rubber duck always finds it way in the nooks and crannies of life. These fellas are good for a variety of tasks, and not just for floating around in your bathtub. They are the most excellent listeners without ever talking back to you!

I'll bet you, you cannot say that any friend or spouse just listens to you without ever talking back or interrupting you, hahaha!

Kidding aside, though, if you don't have a rubber duck on your desk already, get one!

Explain it to the Duck

Let's get one thing out of the way: you don't need a rubber duck per se to make this work — any inanimate object that you have laying around will work just fine. The point of the rubber duck is to help you find solutions to your problems.
This idea was first introduced in the book The Pragmatic Programmer, where one story tells the tale of a programmer who always had a rubber duck with him. Whenever he stumbled upon a bug, he would explain to the duck what the code does, or was supposed to do — class by class, method by method, line by line. By explaining the thought processes (out loud or not), it becomes easier to find the inconsistencies and either getting a step further in finding the rootcause or the solution.

Have you ever explained a problem to someone, regardless of their knowledge on the subject, and halfway your brain just goes *PING!*? Well, that's essentially what happens with the Rubber Duck without taking another persons time. Of course, sometimes you just need someone else's perspective or expertise to solve the problem, but with this method you can get pretty far on your own.

Ever since, many people having been using "rubber ducking" most often using an actual rubber duck or another object on their desks. The best part of it all; this technique isn't exclusive to programmers, you can apply it in nearly every field!

Length

5cm - 20m
1.96in - 65.6ft

Width

5.5cm - 26m
2.16in - 85.3ft

Height

4.7cm - 32m
1.85in - 105ft

Favourite Joke

What do you call a bird that can fix anything?

Duck Tape!

Personally, I have a variety of "rubber ducks" scattered over my desk. I have a few plushies of Pokémon (Gengar and Pikachu) and animals (penguin and panda), and each plushie has a specific topic for me to rant.

So, definitely go and get your own rubber duck!

- ShadowPhoenix