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To be a better programmer, write little proofs in your head

This is a brief write-up of a trick I learned that helps me write code faster and more accurately. I say "trick", but it's really something I started to do without noticing as I moved further into my career. When you're working on something difficult, sketch a proof in your

B-trees generally have to do a lot more work to reclaim the freed space after a delete, restructure things so there's room if an update grows a row, make sure there's enough buffer, etc. For my own part, I started doing mathematics for fun a while ago, and I've noticed that writing proofs has helped improve my clarity of thought in a broad array of settings. If you don't know where to start, I've been going through Stanford's undergrad algorithms class on EdX, which is a fun, proof-focused treatment with (imo) a great professor!

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