Spent 3 hours debugging a missing semicolon in a 200-line JavaScript file yesterday

I walked away for 20 minutes, came back, and found it in 10 seconds, has anyone else had that moment where taking a break actually fixes the bug?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_young2928d ago

Honestly that subconscious thing is real, your brain just needs a hard reset sometimes.

ellis.susan24d ago

Taking a real break is key. Walking away for a full 15 minutes usually helps me spot whatever I was missing.

ray_campbell4628d ago

Read somewhere that your brain actually keeps working on problems in the background when you step away. Something about how the subconscious keeps chewing on it while you're doing dishes or staring at a wall. Makes sense why I always find the dumb stuff right after I've given up and started making coffee. The missing semicolons, the wrong variable name, the thing where I was looking at the right line but just not seeing it.