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Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

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241–250 of 316 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#241
When I first started, I thought I would by touch typing code all day long. It was within my first project I realised we were there to solve problems rather than hacking at a keyboard.

Since then I’ve learned it’s best to spend more time on a whiteboard or notepad than to jump straight into an editor - measure twice, cut once!

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#242
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For the same reason our job's don't stop when we go home (or turn off slack) either, we are essentially paid to think and our brains do not care about the arbitrary thresholds set by 9-5. Speak for yourself. Some of us have been there, burnt out and had to rebuild our relationship with work in a healthy manner. I think no matter what you do, if it is thought work and you don't find a wat to turn it off, you are doi…

How do you not think about work outside of work though? My current job is a shitshow, and I would like my thought towards it to only happen 9–5 while I get paid, but my brain is always thinking about whatever I’m stuck writing code about even during my weekend or outside work hours. I don’t work outside work hours but I can’t stop the thinking either. You make it sound like there is an on off switch, but I don’t seem…

Definitely not an on off switch, it took me ages to get better at turning work off. I think the only advice I can give is to make sure you have non-computer/software hobbies, and practice being more mindful in general. Being mindful lets you get better at noticing when you've got yourself in a work/stress hole again. Thinking about work is involuntary most of the time, you just end up there, but if you can train yourself to notice it you can hopefully get better at stopping it.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#243
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

> There are many reasons why not doing X is right, including social/mental recovery and prevention of burnout.

You suggested the question seems naive, but you’ve also listed plenty of good answers to “why aren’t you coding?”

I’m not sure you can attribute naivety to a simple question like this, and I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s just a question. It’s prompted some interesting responses in this thread.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#244
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

Good point, happened to me today. The UI requirements to my ticket didn't make sense. The changes the other dev wanted would have took us possible days. I was hesitant to start, so I asked another dev... He said something totally different, he kept referring to something the designer wanted, but it didn't make sense to me, either. I called the designer and she told me she never said that and we agreed on something el…

Just in case you aren't aware, but this is what agile is actually about. Big part of it is communicating with the team. Not having a fixed plan and adjusting when having new insights is also part of it, but I think the communication part is often overlooked.

In the classic methodologies, you had some document, that told you what to do. In agile you should talk about things and just use a few notes to summarize what should be done.

Acceptance criteria are a (good) tool to drive the discussion into a specific, rather than abstract, direction, but should not replace verbal communication.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#247
It is funny to read all the comments and see the dichotomy of coding:

On the one hand, everybody wants people who can write code and keep them at the highest productivity level and on the other hand, code writers seem to care about not writing too much code, because all that new code must be maintained and might create necessary problems in the future which need to be solved :-D

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#248
post #167

I finally checked out the link. You're looking for material to use in a comic? And I'm trying to give you a serious answer. Maybe these experiences will help: Had a coworker get promoted way past his level of incompetence. He never accomplished much before, but afterward he spent all of his time lobbying for his ideas and undermining those of us that were trying to get work done. Wasted a lot of time dealing with him…

> I'm sure a lot of people have this problem: naming things. Can't code until you figure out what that variable should be called. i, j, k, foo, bar, baz, and don't waste a moment thinking about it till your solution is finished and warrants a once-over (or till it has grown sufficiently complicated that a real name is finally necessary even if temporary -- try to work in small enough units that this never happens).

Just use Java, then your FooClassFactory instance can just be named fooClassFactory :)

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#249
post #96

Because Coding is not Working. Coding is not Planning. Coding is not Being Efficient. Coding is not Accomplishing Goals. Coding is not Saving Money. Coding is not Gaining Customers. I am getting paid to get things done in a good manner. If I wanted to have a house built for me, I would not expect to pay somebody and immediately have them start laying bricks without them looking at the land, taking soil samples, sketc…

> There are many reasons why not doing X is right, including social/mental recovery and prevention of burnout. You suggested the question seems naive, but you’ve also listed plenty of good answers to “why aren’t you coding?” I’m not sure you can attribute naivety to a simple question like this, and I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s just a question. It’s prompted some interesting responses in this thread.

Interesting how judgment is assumed in this question. A question like “why aren’t you living in Istanbul” feels very neutral, whereas OP’s question can feel like a moral suggestion. Seems unfair to presuppose such things, though especially in a caustic way
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