Re: XY Problem
by wfsp (Abbot) on Apr 11, 2006 at 06:12 UTC
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The proscriptive XYZ.
I want to do X and I know you'll all tell me to use Y but I need to use Z. I can't use Y and I'm not going to explain, I have to use Z and I won't explain that either.
update 1: Don't waste your time telling me about Y.
update 2: Look, I have to use Z. Just tell me how to use Z.
update 3: I give up, you're all fools
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wfsp++
Ha! You gave my my first out-loud laugh of the day ... thanks. :) I think I saw an example of an XYZ problem of this nature just the other day, here in PerlMonks. I particularly liked update 3, very clever. Again, thanks.
No good deed goes unpunished. -- (attributed to) Oscar Wilde
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Ahhh... what you said. The problem I have most frequently is that I really do know I need to do Z and the explanation as to why is really not germane. But... people love to 'be smart' so they start prying. The trick, I suppose, is distinguishing between the two types of queries.
http://www.mpwilson.com/uccu/
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Re: XY Problem
by xdg (Monsignor) on Apr 10, 2006 at 21:08 UTC
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Some related problems:
YX Problem: You explain that you want to do X and instead of an answer you're asked "Why would you want to do X?"
XZ Problem: You ask how to get X to work and you're told to do Z instead.
XYZABC Problem: You ask how to do X and after suggesting or getting an answer Y, you get four more alternatives for doing the same thing and no way to choose between them.
XYZPDQ Problem: You ask how to do X and after suggesting or getting an answer Y, you get four alternatives that would be more efficient regardless of whether that is important to you or not.
Humor aside, as Not_a_Number said, ++ for giving us an easy way to point someone to their XY Problem.
-xdg
Code written by xdg and posted on PerlMonks is public domain. It is provided as is with no warranties, express or implied, of any kind. Posted code may not have been tested. Use of posted code is at your own risk.
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Re: XY Problem
by merlyn (Sage) on Apr 11, 2006 at 02:10 UTC
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Then there's always the XYZ Problem:
They ask how to do Z, but that's because they think
they want to do Y and think that Z will get them there, but really it's
because they're a lunkhead, and that's the main (X) problem.
Tongue-in-cheek, of course.
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Re: XY Problem
by rhesa (Vicar) on Apr 10, 2006 at 18:59 UTC
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And here I was thinking they were referring to my chromosomes! ;^) | [reply] |
Re: XY Problem
by zentara (Cardinal) on Apr 10, 2006 at 19:04 UTC
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If X and Y fail to please, just move on to the Z's :-)
I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth.
flash japh
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don't forget prophylactics
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Re: XY Problem
by Not_a_Number (Prior) on Apr 10, 2006 at 19:55 UTC
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Excellent++! We can now post a succinct reply along the lines of "I think you have an XY Problem. You are asking us how to do Y, but ..."
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Re: XY Problem
by eric256 (Parson) on Apr 10, 2006 at 22:39 UTC
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XYP Problem:
You posted problem X and inquired about solution Y, but it turns out that you spelled it (P)ERL.
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Re: XY Problem
by swampyankee (Parson) on Apr 11, 2006 at 15:13 UTC
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Then there is the (thankfully rare) "my problem is X. I've tried Y." then the respondent gives a perfect solution to an entirely different problem. I think I'm guilty of this, at least once....
emc
"Being forced to write comments actually improves code, because it is easier to fix a crock than to explain it. " —G. Steele
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Re: XY Problem
by CountZero (Bishop) on Apr 10, 2006 at 20:59 UTC
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The ABC of the XY(Z) problem. ++
CountZero "If you have four groups working on a compiler, you'll get a 4-pass compiler." - Conway's Law
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Re: XY Problem
by jeffa (Bishop) on Apr 11, 2006 at 15:14 UTC
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Completely unrelated to Perl (but still maintaining a modicum of relevance to this thread) is the YYZ Problem: you want to play the drum solo from the Rush song, YYZ, but you aren't (and never will be) Neil Peart. :/
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s/drum solo/bassline/;
s/Neil Peart/Geddy Lee/;
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Re: XY Problem
by gam3 (Curate) on Apr 12, 2006 at 12:24 UTC
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New? 1989? I started programming as a H.S. student in 1965 and it wasn't much later that I first encountered and identified the problem of fellow students asking how to do something that wasn't really what they wanted to do. Later, as a professional, I learned that this was codified in the notion of requirements ... something that most hackers don't seem to know much about.
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Re: XY Problem
by OfficeLinebacker (Chaplain) on Jan 07, 2007 at 00:46 UTC
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I didn't even know there was a name for this! There's a guy with whom I work who often responds to my questions with "Why don't you just tell me exactly what you're trying to do?" (meaning I do lots of XY) I just sent him an email and the format of it was
I have problem X. Y is the way I think the solution would work, but here's a full explanation of X (and please pardon the verbosity):
blah blah blah
What do you think?
I must admit to a little bit of pride for remembering how he tended to answer my questions and creating a request that (I hope) will result in better communication. And I think this node is really neat.
I like computer programming because it's like Legos for the mind.
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Re: XY Problem
by blazar (Canon) on May 28, 2007 at 19:32 UTC
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(Late addition)
XWTFITL Problem: You want to do X, and you have no clue about how to do it. Instead of asking about X, you ask about... hey, WTF is that letter? (That is, something one can hardly make sense of.)
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You ask question X
You get solution Y, which is 75% of X, the solution you really need
Persevere and you can turn Solution Y into your solution X
.....A die hard programmer....
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Re: XY Problem
by Moron (Curate) on Apr 03, 2007 at 15:27 UTC
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This looks like an example case of the open block.
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Re: XY Problem
by shmem (Chancellor) on Oct 22, 2015 at 19:09 UTC
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Until now, not mentioned: the YZ problem.
You are used to qwertz, but, at the console, your server has qwerty. Verz funnz.
Where is the pipe char, damnit?
perl -le'print map{pack c,($-++?1:13)+ord}split//,ESEL'
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Shift plus bottom row most left key (UK mapping, not sure about US).
My solution to the YZ problem is to use an unlabeled keyboard to avoid the eye being misled about the actual key mapping.
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(UK mapping, not sure about US).
On the US keymap \| are where #~ are on the UK keymap.
My solution to the YZ problem is to use an unlabeled keyboard to avoid the eye being misled about the actual key mapping.
For the same reason I have a blank keyboard, too ;-) - and I use it mostly in the UK layout, which I found most suitable for perl programming.
perl -le'print map{pack c,($-++?1:13)+ord}split//,ESEL'
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Re: XY Problem
by wrog (Friar) on Dec 21, 2014 at 08:36 UTC
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What? Yes it is.
Plus, it's meant to be funny, and I think it is. It's just a play on a famous quote, one variant of which is
Some people, when confronted with a problem, think
"I know, I'll use regular expressions."
Now they have two problems.
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/223634/what-is-meant-by-now-you-have-two-problems
http://regex.info/blog/2006-09-15/247
http://www.xkcd.com/1171/
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