Duck Test

Noun · Slang & Abbreviations

Definitions

  1. An informal heuristic captured by the idea that if something looks and behaves like a duck, it is probably a duck. Engineers use it when pattern recognition is more practical than perfect proof.

    In plain English: A common-sense test where something is judged by how much it looks like the thing.

    Example: "It passes the duck test for a cache stampede even if we haven't traced every request yet."

Related Terms