Automate your job. I'm steadily building tools that make my job easier and thus me more efficient. I have a nice django app scaffolding generator that makes writing code quicker. I just need to add the model fields and the logic to the views. Everything else is mostly generated. In fact, I'm moving towards automating a lot of the code I write. Less strain on my hands.
Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
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Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#12Automate your job. I'm steadily building tools that make my job easier and thus me more efficient. I have a nice django app scaffolding generator that makes writing code quicker. I just need to add the model fields and the logic to the views. Everything else is mostly generated. In fact, I'm moving towards automating a lot of the code I write. Less strain on my hands.
I made a set of Powershell functions to automate making Powershell script modules, and adding functions to those, and adding items to functions. At some point, this became a natural language to Powershell interpreter, adding in brackets and other punctuation at the correct locations - it has the side effect that human error is not introduced, in brackets (5% error rate) and also human error in comments (20% error rate).
I feel like this is where all languages will eventually go, being easier to hear and speak instead of read and type. And not having to think about brackets and semicolons frees a developer to think instead about the work their code is performing.
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#13Use this perl project called TagTime " rel="nofollow">https://github.com/dreeves/TagTime> to track your own time. Description from GitHub: To determine how you spend your time, TagTime literally randomly samples you. At random times it pops up and asks what you're doing right at that moment. You answer with tags. Use Beeminder , a commitment device with a sting. Make a commitment, and give them a price (in USD) for f…
You can use Day One as well for the "random sampling". I've got it setup so that it pops up from the menu bar each X time and prompts me to add what I'm doing.
Some months are almost full, some months have only a handful of info. But it is quite stable since all the way back to 2014 for me.
You could add both tags and paragraphs of what you're doing.
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#14cool
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#15Use this perl project called TagTime " rel="nofollow">https://github.com/dreeves/TagTime> to track your own time. Description from GitHub: To determine how you spend your time, TagTime literally randomly samples you. At random times it pops up and asks what you're doing right at that moment. You answer with tags. Use Beeminder , a commitment device with a sting. Make a commitment, and give them a price (in USD) for f…
Beeminder sounds like a great idea, but there's something stopping me from using it. Every time I try to set a new goal on Beeminder just before I set the dollar amount I hear myself say "this is really stupid" and promptly cancel.
I know that if I feel guilty about paying those $5 per transgression I can just lie to the app, which makes the whole thing pointless.
I understand that the whole idea is to be honest to yourself. But because I have been frugal/cheap my entire life, it feels stupid to waste $5 when I could easily avoid it.
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#16Automation. My number one thing might be learning to use multiple cursors in Sublime, I probably jump into it 10 times a day to psuedo-automate text editing. I wrote of one example here: http://jontelang.com/blog/2016/06/22/sublime-efficiency.html
Another thing is, also automation, to use Hazel to automatically keep my temp files manageable. Basically, when I file is older than X days, move it to a "need review" folder. This mean that there is a steady but very very manageable flow of files to delete or move to their correct location. I also wrote about it here: http://jontelang.com/blog/2015/08/17/hazel-is-great.html. My Downloads folder have not been 1000s of files since I started with this.
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#171. Stop calling anything a "life hack."
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#18Start asking questions in Stack Overflow. I wish I started doing this years ago. I used to be just a non participating reader for a long time. Once I got the taste of it, I ask questions frequently now. If you are stuck with an issue for over 2 hrs, ask in SO. There are so many knowledgeable people who will guide you to in the right path and save you hours/days! The best part is you'll get a response when you are back after coffee or max on the next day morning when I come to work. I've started trying the same thing in HN as well lately :) .
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#19Use this perl project called TagTime " rel="nofollow">https://github.com/dreeves/TagTime> to track your own time. Description from GitHub: To determine how you spend your time, TagTime literally randomly samples you. At random times it pops up and asks what you're doing right at that moment. You answer with tags. Use Beeminder , a commitment device with a sting. Make a commitment, and give them a price (in USD) for f…
Beeminder sounds like a great idea, but there's something stopping me from using it. Every time I try to set a new goal on Beeminder just before I set the dollar amount I hear myself say "this is really stupid" and promptly cancel. I know that if I feel guilty about paying those $5 per transgression I can just lie to the app, which makes the whole thing pointless. I understand that the whole idea is to be honest to y…
Push the responsibility one step away from yourself. Since the goal needs data from you, then you can connect the goal to something like github, RescueTime, TagTime, Complice, etc. Or design your own service for your own personal needs [please do this if nothing exists]. Example with GitHub: if, to lie to Beeminder through GitHub, you have to make a fake commit, push and pull request, then you're already part of the way to doing what you want! Just s/"fake commit"/"what you actually want to accomplish", and as they say, Bob's your uncle.
Re: Ask HN: What are the cool life hacks for Developer?
#20Start asking questions in Stack Overflow. I wish I started doing this years ago. I used to be just a non participating reader for a long time. Once I got the taste of it, I ask questions frequently now. If you are stuck with an issue for over 2 hrs, ask in SO. There are so many knowledgeable people who will guide you to in the right path and save you hours/days! The best part is you'll get a response when you are bac…
Well, I don't have similar experiences with SO. Sometimes I feel that easy questions are being answered very quickly by many people because everyone wants to get reputation points quickly, but difficult questions are often left unanswered forever as they require a lot of effort and don't bring as much reputation to the answerer (as their potential audience is not so wide).