Sometimes, more so in my early-mid 20s, I would dream about code/architecture issues I was having, and bizarrely, wake up with the solution. It was a trip when I realized what had happened, so I started napping when I got stuck and it actually worked a decent amount of the time.
Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
51–60 of 146 posts
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#52[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#53When I started coding I took upon a task way over my beginner skills.
I was working on a Minecraft plugin to give the player the ability to access a virtual chest.
I had to dive in the code of Minecraft so deeply that I started dreaming of creeper exploding in my code.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#54Yep, and it's not pleasant when you're lucid enough to know you're dreaming, but not lucid enough to be able to reason properly. It's just a general feeling of trying to solve something, without any payoff.
I've had several experiences of pointlessly struggling with a dream computer, or a more abstract sort of programming-flavoured dream puzzle.
That's where you want to get lucid enough to realise that struggling with the problem isn't a worthwhile pursuit now, and go do something fun instead :)
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#55I have the same problem, with often abstract crazy problems involving myself as part of the equation. It could be writing a system that gives me the ability to sleep or close my eyes, but also real problems that I worked with earlier that day.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#56Once during a bout of fever I dreamt I was a running Pascal program. Believe me, it's no fun being a computer.
Thank god I'm not alone :p
Almost every time I have a fever, I end up dreaming about code or diagrams. Sometimes even live CSS coding. And yes, it's awful and you can't escape.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of programmers I respect like to work on printed out code, and it's something I enjoy as well. Furthermore I'd love if we could work completely offline, with pen and paper.
> Furthermore I'd love if we could work completely offline, with pen and paper. Why is that? I loathe writing code on paper, seems like it'd be a serious regression.
No idea, I just enjoy paper and whiteboards more, I feel more creative as well. Also the fact that you're cutting out distractions.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#58I'm currently doing the OSCP, and I've been dreaming of buffer overflow attacks the past few days.
It's encouraging too, because my dreams are accurate.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#59I actually can't sleep if I think about code. My mind fixates on it so much that it keeps me awake.
When I'm awake and bored, though, I do think about code a lot, and game mechanics, and such.
Re: Ask HN: Does anyone dream of code?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of programmers I respect like to work on printed out code, and it's something I enjoy as well. Furthermore I'd love if we could work completely offline, with pen and paper.
> Furthermore I'd love if we could work completely offline, with pen and paper. Why is that? I loathe writing code on paper, seems like it'd be a serious regression.
Really?
I have the exact opposite view. I love writing it my code on paper. It makes me feel like the creative part of the equation while I leave the 'mechanical' computation to the dumb machine. Debugging and understanding difficult code samples is easier too.
I once read that Knuth(?) never used a computer and wrote everything on paper for his sectetary to type.