FAQ

1. What are heuristics, and why do they matter in development?

   Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that help simplify decision-making. While they're useful for quick judgments, they often lead to biases or errors. In development, understanding these heuristics can help you avoid common pitfalls, make better technical decisions, and improve your team's processes.

2. How do I use the heuristics?

   Each listing on the heuristics page has a title and a short blurb and — if it's been encountered — it serves as a link to a post with more detail. Of course, some of these biases haven't been encountered or, rather, I haven't connected the dots between an experience and a bias. Those are grayed-out and will 404 if you try to be cute.

   Each heuristic gets its own page and always follows the same structure:

   1. The heuristic | The bias explained as simply as possible.
   2. The real world | A real-world development example of the bias and how it played out.
   3. The lesson | The point I try to remember and use as a 🚩 on a daily basis to not...

3. How often do you update the heuristics?

   Updates are based on my personal encounters with the heuristics during my projects. That means new examples or lessons might pop up whenever I connect the dots between a bias and a real-world experience. There’s no set schedule, so check back occasionally for fresh content. You can also add me on LinkedIn where a GitHub Action will take care of shouting about my inadequcies since I refuse to self-promote.

4. Can I contribute my own experiences with heuristics?

   I mean, you could, but honestly, shouldn't you be busy living your own life instead of validating my biases? That said, if you're dying to share a story about how a bias absolutely wrecked your sprint planning or why you ended up naming a variable stuff3, feel free to drop me a note. No promises I'll use it, but hey, it's your time.