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There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

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Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#51

Post by computerjunkie »

"Tot Facienda Parum Factum" - "So much to do, so little done"

This article resonates with me so much. I don't know if every other self taught developer goes/went through this, but its truly annoying.

Its so easy to get caught up in a another_new_JavaScript_framework.js or front end framework, but if you look back you begin to see that you wasted time focusing on the trendy things (author mentions he does this).HN, Techcrunch, Github, Bloggers and other resources all influence us with these shiny things. Sooner or later, priorities will change and you will begin to make rational decisions on how you spend your time.

I only realised this when I started working a couple of weeks ago at this temporary gig. You soon realise that there are not a lot of hours in the day to use all the shiny things you want.

I've come to the point where I have stopped looking at the shiny new things and started focusing on a small set of tools for job at hand.Tools that have been proven to work, and will continue to work regardless of what is currently trending.

Rather than learn 3-4 tutorials about a languages syntax for months, pick one comprehensive but concise tutorial on the language and straight after that start a small project in it and stick to it till its finished. Programming languages (or domain tools) in general all have similar concepts. If you learn python, then ruby or other interpreted languages should be easy to understand.If you learn Photoshop, then Gimp or other image manipulation software should be easy to understand and grasp. Understand the concepts, not the tool.

Pick a technology you are comfortable with and make stuff. Because at the end of the day, your average Twitter, Instagram, Facebook user doesn't even know(or care) if Scala, Python or PHP is scalable and if the application used best design patterns. All what matters to them is the content, likes, shares, comments et. al.

A couple of articles I found truly eyeopening on my journey in software development in general;

1. http://blog.codinghorror.com/php-sucks-but-it-doesnt-matter/

2. http://blog.codinghorror.com/the-php-singularity/

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#52

Post by maplebed »

drawkbox wrote: post #45

You aren't able to get out of the sketchbook or notes in your over-architecting phase. It is normal. It is a typical developer arc. You are probably around 4-8 years in. - The first 2-3 years are focused, prototype like, just happy it is working phase. Piles of crap code here and a few successes. Underplanning is the key problem with a focus on proving you can do it. - The second phase it the overly architected phase…

[nit] Daniel-san

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#54

Post by jrjarrett »

Oh, this. So much this.

Except I get stalled just THINKING about all the setup stuff, or how much I no longer know about iOS development, since I haven't done it at all in a month, never mind ever having gotten on top of the wave in iOS 5. Never mind 6 or 7 or 8.....

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#55

Post by NathanWilliams »

steven2012 wrote: post #8

This is really just a matter of maturity and discipline. The OP is unable to say "No" to themself. Having discipline is being able to power through the boring stuff because you know it's important. OP does not need ADD drugs, all they need to do is commit to finishing a task, and not to pick up anything new until the current task is completed, no matter how "fun" the other tasks seem.

I have a problem with your "OP does not need ADD drugs" comment.

How do you know? ADHD is a real condition. You wouldn't tell someone with bipolar that they don't need anti-depression medication and instead just need to "stop being depressed".

You clearly don't know how hard it is to push through daily even with medication. Please be more empathetic regarding mental conditions you personally don't experience.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#57

Post by sejje »

ToastyMallows wrote: post #44
ashark wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 50% of my projects die in the following way: 1) I've got an idea for a useful library that might finally make my GitHub not look so lame! 2) Search github: (idea) language:(language) 3) Oh, there's the exact thing I was going to build. Never mind. Another 49% die this way: 1) It'd be so cool to have X! 2) (thinks about time to actually develop X versus real value it would give me and likelihood of anyone paying…

> "...I think of them 6 months after someone else already had the idea :-/" So true. That's why one of my first steps is to Google my idea. If I can't find a viable competitor, then I move on to the design phase.

Ever think you're doing it wrong?

An established competitor guarantees there's a market. You'll just have to do it better than they do.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#58

Post by scarygliders »

Forget what most here are saying about Adult ADHD, ADD or whatever fancy schmancy TLA is this era's Mental Illness Du Jour.

You, my friend, are suffering from Procrastination.

You have the idea - but you're putting SO MANY barriers in front of implementing that idea. You're finding excuses NOT to just sit down and write code. You're procrastinating.

I know this because I too am guilty of it - been guilty of it all this week in fact. I have an application to write for a business client - it's Wednesday already and I'm still "thinking over it". I should get started on it, preferably before this week is over.

Listen. Forget TDD. Especially if you're a team of 1. Just sit down, decide on an IDE - vim will do, even! - and start writing Code That Does Something for your idea. Got stuck? Google for "how do I ?", see how to do it, then write the Code That Does Something.

"But, the TESTS!" - here's my method of development (as I'm on a team of 1) : A) Write the Code That Does Something. B) Run it and see if it Does What You Wanted It To Do. If it does, great, carry on. If not, sort that bit out until it does. Then carry on.

Oh and stop procrastinating.

Re: There are too many shiny objects and it is killing me

#60

Post by mu_killnine »

drawkbox wrote: post #45

You aren't able to get out of the sketchbook or notes in your over-architecting phase. It is normal. It is a typical developer arc. You are probably around 4-8 years in. - The first 2-3 years are focused, prototype like, just happy it is working phase. Piles of crap code here and a few successes. Underplanning is the key problem with a focus on proving you can do it. - The second phase it the overly architected phase…

This is a really appropriate comment. I'm about 8 years into professional development and feel like your first two phases are spot on.

I also sympathize with the author because it's just so fun to get all organized for a new project. Eventually, that ends up just sucking all the energy out of me for actually completing the project I set out to do in the first place.

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