Perl Debugged

3.3. Observation

One of the most important skills you can hone as a developer is the power of observation. The biggest lesson to learn is how not to make things up. One way to learn this is to spend a stint answering calls on a help desk. Because so many of the people who call give such blatantly incomplete, inaccurate, or imaginary information, you will quickly realize the proper ways to describe a problem.

Why is this important to you as a developer? It's about better communication, and better understanding. Better communication because when you're working with someone else, you have to convey your ideas and experiences to them in the slow, limited medium of speech rather than in the lightning fast way in which richly expressive thoughts zip ...