Hey, hey, hey, hey..........................................................................Write code everyday.
-The Next Episode Remix
Write Code Every Day
51–60 of 221 posts
Re: Write Code Every Day
#52Hey John, just quit KA. Life is too short to waste it in things you don't love. Remember jQuery brought you fame, not because you were chasing fame itself but because your love for jQuery and programming. Love for what you do comes first, money is just a secondary effect.
Haha ehhh I think you're reading into this a bit too much. It is possible to love more than one thing - I love helping educate people and doing it at a scale that Khan Academy can provide. I also love building reusable JavaScript libraries. I also love building tools for Art Historians. They all shouldn't be to the exclusion of each other and, in fact, there's often overlap. Part of the fun in life is embracing that and trying to make the most of it!
Re: Write Code Every Day
#53This doesn't improve you much unless you're really new or skilled at challenging at yourself and finding new things to learn.
If the latter is true, do you really need advice?
Said differently: flow is the opiate of the masses.
Re: Write Code Every Day
#54Telling a programmer to write code every day is a bit like asking an aspiring carpenter to swing a hammer: it's a necessary component of improving your skills and building things, but it is also a narrow, technical task that has limited value in isolation. Having said that, programmers should spend at least as much time reading and thinking about code as they do writing it. You can write code for hours each day and d…
I'd agree with you if my primary desire were to improve my ability as a programmer. Unfortunately, at least at this time, it's not. My major concern is getting meaningful work done. I spend far too much time thinking and reading about technologies, techniques, and planning for the future - more time needs to be spent on actually implementing all the amazing stuff that you want to exist.
Exactly it is more of an exercise of discipline. Discipline is not simply achieved, it is a constant challenge.
Re: Write Code Every Day
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd agree with you if my primary desire were to improve my ability as a programmer. Unfortunately, at least at this time, it's not. My major concern is getting meaningful work done. I spend far too much time thinking and reading about technologies, techniques, and planning for the future - more time needs to be spent on actually implementing all the amazing stuff that you want to exist.
As someone with the opposite problem/concern, can I request your strategies for reading and thinking about technologies and techniques?
There are a number of technologies that I'm interested in right now (machine learning, "NoSQL" databases, graph databases, computer vision analysis, Node.js, amongst others) so I will just casually read about these things as time goes by. When the time comes for a new project I'll try to use one of them (but usually only one, too many new technologies and you're spending too much time just learning APIs). This has helped me to continually pick up some new techniques. Not sure if this is a silver bullet but it's been working pretty well for me. I try not to stress too much about jumping on the latest tech - I'd much rather wait and have others try it out and let me know if it does/doesn't work!
Re: Write Code Every Day
#56On a slightly related note, I'm trying to impose a new behaviorist training on myself. I've never been one to listen to music when working, although I love music (as in member of two active bands, produced many albums love music). So now, I'm trying to do work in album-length increments. Put on the headphones, pick an album, and work on one task all the way through it. No breaks, no interruptions. It's kind of a Pomo…
That sounds vaguely similar to what John Carmack allegedly used to do: http://bookofhook.blogspot.com/2013/03/smart-guy-productivit...
Good article, thanks!
Re: Write Code Every Day
#57This doesn't improve you much unless you're really new or skilled at challenging at yourself and finding new things to learn. If the latter is true, do you really need advice? Said differently: flow is the opiate of the masses.
Not everything has to be a life-improving challenge - sometimes you just want to ship some code!
Re: Write Code Every Day
#58Hey John, just quit KA. Life is too short to waste it in things you don't love. Remember jQuery brought you fame, not because you were chasing fame itself but because your love for jQuery and programming. Love for what you do comes first, money is just a secondary effect.
It's vital to keep your nose in real problems if you're working on tools, otherwise it's easy to go off into the weeds.
Additionally, a substantial part of research/creating things is time not spent working on it. It's really similar to working out: the rest time is when the growth occurs, and the time at the gym provides the impetus.
Re: Write Code Every Day
#59This "don't break the chain" approach has worked extremely well for me, particularly during busy periods of high stress. I first learned about it in my college writing classes, where you're supposed to write something, anything, meaningless jibberish even, every single morning. Recently I read about Seinfeld using this approach to great successs. Every day he works on material, and puts a big, fat, "X" on the calenda…
In the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron she talks about "morning pages". Every morning write 3 pages of anything. Works for me and it is a nice daily meditation exercise.
Re: Write Code Every Day
#60I am a total convert to the "don't break the chain" idea. I started writing a book on game programming[1] about four years ago. At the time, I was working at EA, miserable, and highly motivated to have the book done so it could help pad my resume. I got a book deal (O'Reilly) then, when that fell through, another (Apress). I had a real writing schedule, and a very supportive wife, and I would work on it for hours at…
I use the "don't break the chain" idea as well and it has helped me out tremendously. I currently have three separate calendars for April taped next to my computer so that I can see it every day/all day as a reminder. I will not have any leisure time until I mark an X for the day on all three calendars. The three calendars are for improving myself professionally/career (coding every day), physically (gym), and mentally (reading 1 hour).
I highly recommend that methodology for anyone trying to build a [productive] habit.