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Write Code Every Day

ejohn.org

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Re: Write Code Every Day

#61

Post by coolsunglasses »

jeresig wrote: post #57
coolsunglasses wrote: post #53

This 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!

Sure! But if the daily coding is predicated on a sense that, "this is how one becomes great" it is not sufficient for that goal.

It's easy to become complacent. Most people are.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#62

Post by d55 »

munificent wrote: post #32

I 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…

The first pattern book without a mention of Christopher Alexander (:

Re: Write Code Every Day

#63

Post by d55 »

gdubs wrote: post #2

This "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…

But what if you don't have some skill to work on? /:

Re: Write Code Every Day

#64

Post by weavie »

jeresig wrote: post #57
coolsunglasses wrote: post #53

This 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!

I would say shipping is definitely life improving. Shipping is where you expose your work to the public and open it up to feedback and criticism. You can learn a lot more from direct feedback than you can learn from a general book.

I have far too many books and half finished projects that will never get finished. I have forgotten most of the stuff I learned from them.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#65

Post by josephschmoe »

Don't focus on the how. You can produce good code by: 1. Coding every day 2. Hackathons 3. Coding on certain days 4. However you want.

What matters though, is how -you- work. Are you the sort of person who prefers to code as much as possible? Code every day. Do you enjoy getting a big thing done fast? Hackathons are for you. Do you have children, a life or a job? You might want to code whenever you can instead of trying to force yourself into something that might not work for you.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#66

Post by antjanus »

munificent wrote: post #32

I 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…

[HabitRPG](http://habitrpg.com) is totally awesome for this, a great motivator. You can setup "Dailies" so that when you're done writing your daily 500 words, you just check it off. Or set it up as a habit and give yourself a "+" whenever you get a new chapter done.

I use it all the time for just these purposes.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#67

Post by FLUX-YOU »

jeresig wrote: post #3
gdubs wrote: post #2

This "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…

An important change that I made, compared with these techniques, is that I require myself to write meaningful code. It's certainly much harder to do that but as a result I find myself developing good time management skills. Knowing that I have to be mentally "present" for my work forces myself to schedule and plan my days better, resulting in higher quality work all around!

How do you define meaningful code? I feel like I'd quickly run out of approachable ideas without reinventing some wheel. I'm also not to the point that I can write Node/Python/other packages and have them be useful or unique.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#68

Post by tibbon »

I was onboard with this school of thought for a while, right now it isn't my flow.

I work hard as-is teaching WDI at GA. I commit code frequently, but I also really want to focus more on work-life balance at the expense of getting more done. This summer, I'm taking two months off to do Burning Man and travel the country via motorcycle. During that time I expect no code to be committed. Do I feel bad about that at all? Not in the least bit, in fact I'm super excited to do it.

Currently, I try to not do much work on weekends. I like working hard during the week and then stepping away from the computer. I'll go and play music, ride my motorcycle, hang out with friends, travel, etc. The more time spent on my laptop on weekends feels like I'm missing out on things that matter strongly to me right now.

Now I am nowhere near the prolific coder that John is, and nowhere near his skill. I don't think he's wrong for doing it this way, but it isn't right for me and I'm glad that its producing results for him. I also go through periods of wanting to code daily, and other times where I'm ok with not coding for several days at a time.

To each their own. Also, Hi John!!! I haven't seen you since betahouse or you holding a Jelly at your place in Cambridge.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#69

Post by RivieraKid »

jeresig wrote: post #33
hawkharris wrote: post #30

Telling 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.

I have the exact same problem, I love learning new stuff, thinking about new projects, mentally designing code and UIs... but I do much less of actual coding done than I would want to. One reason is that once the novelty of the project wears of, it becomes a boring routine work.

Re: Write Code Every Day

#70

Post by suyash »

hawkharris wrote: post #30

Telling 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 see your point but I don't think when John says "Write Code Every Day" he means writing without thinking. Of course any decent programmer knows thinking about the architecture, pattern, design, data structure and algorithm while writing code is paramount.

What I see him saying is that practice the art of coding every day but you can't write code without thinking so it's kind of implied to me.

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