Buy a book or two on the subject and read it. That's what we did before the internet.
It's just for a week, use the local library.
Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
51–60 of 89 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#52I don't know the circumstance of your tech exile, but I'd encourage you to take advantage of it to do something other than code! If you're going to be in nature, be in nature. If you're going to be with people, be with people. Those are the sorts of experiences you'll treasure, later in life, far more than a few more days of "productivity". If none of that applies, and you still want to learn something to do with tec…
It's really annoying to answer a question by telling the asker that you know better and they should do something else. This person cared enough about this question to ask it to a community on the internet. Have the humility to answer their question instead of telling them that you're wiser than them.
I agree. Sure, maybe I will soak in the nature but I'm not going to do that 24/7 for a week. Some days I might just want to program in said nature while sitting outside.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#53Get a math or CS textbook and try solving some of the exercises.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#54I don't work with React directly but I'm aware with JS apps that a lot of package repos are needed to build so can all that work without internet (i.e. npm install, etc.)?
The good thing is you can practice this ahead of your retreat by turning off your wifi and trying to do work that you might do on your retreat. Then when you encounter something you need, figure out how to download it and run/install it locally. Then repeat until your local setup allows you to do work. The downside is you'll be limited to what you prepare ahead of time so there won't be any exploring available packages, downloading one to see if it works, etc.
Another approach is to try and learn something new with a book, that amount of time with a new language/framework and being new to it means you probably only need some basics to get going. You might want to download api/language docs in addition to the book as well in case you explore things outside of the scope of the book. Maybe try something adjacent to what you work on.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#55I got "allergic" to computers but I still like algorithms and playing with mathematical/logical structures.
I spent some time in the Australian outback with nothing but a pencil and a block of paper.
I had heard of topology in science fiction books so I decided to study that from scratch.
Soon I had discovered a family of hyperdimensional geometries that led me to an efficient algorithm for the complete resolution of a traveling salesman problem and a non-Boolean logic.
Therefore I think that creativity (work!) in preparation for coding doesn't need anything but a curious mind.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#56Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#57Family: "We're going to an area where there's no WiFi, no distractions, no internet, just quiet solitude!"
Me: "Awesome! I'll get my laptop so I can work on some personal projects without distraction."
The only part of the puzzle I cannot solve is the Figma issue, which is an online tool. If your designs are already done, you can generate PDFs or PSDs to take with you.
For documentation, if you're anything like me, I refer to it constantly, there are tools that you can use to clone entire readthedocs areas, along with many others documentation projects. Simply keep them local.
You can create a local clone of an entire npmregistry, there are tools to do this for build systems.
Alternatively, pick up a tutorial style programming book that is outside of your regular knowledge area, download whatever tools you need, and work your way through the book.
You know your workflow better than anyone else, so try working your workflow without internet for a day and see where it falls short. Again, you can work around most of the problems, except for those "I need a back-end server to work" tools, e.g. Figma.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#58Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#59Time to git clone the docs to all your tools. Mozilla MDN etc would be worth downloading. Make sure you have all your local infra like DBs running on your machine. I did an hour of coding today disconnected from the internet and it was nice. Some things have to be put off but there is a surprising amount you can do!
Check out Zeal if git cloning docs is something you do.
Re: Ask HN: How do I code offline for a week?
#60I don't know the circumstance of your tech exile, but I'd encourage you to take advantage of it to do something other than code! If you're going to be in nature, be in nature. If you're going to be with people, be with people. Those are the sorts of experiences you'll treasure, later in life, far more than a few more days of "productivity". If none of that applies, and you still want to learn something to do with tec…
It's really annoying to answer a question by telling the asker that you know better and they should do something else. This person cared enough about this question to ask it to a community on the internet. Have the humility to answer their question instead of telling them that you're wiser than them.
This is a classic example of the xy problem https://xyproblem.info/, where the author is asking for advice on his solution (how to study react on a vacation without internet), when for the vast majority of circumstances the best advice for the author would be to not waste his vacation studying React.