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Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

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Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#141

Post by swader999 »

contravariant wrote: post #133
a3n wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's necessary but not sufficient.

And arguably it's best when it's done as little as possible.

I write better non-trivial code when I get up and get away from the screen for a while. Go do something else to get my mind off it. Even sleep on it. Then the insights creep in. Hammering away at a hard problem usually makes a big mess. Sometimes three quarters of my time is spent understanding the requirements, negotiating the solution, researching, talking through the design.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#142

Post by khazhoux »

Because my title includes the word "Engineering Manager", which means if I code people will think I'm a shitty manager who should be an IC. So instead I'm required to write a bunch of docs and attend meetings, and explain ideas to smart developers who don't quite get it the first few times... but once in a while I'll crank out a demo to show the team the way, quietly fearing my career advancement opportunities diminish if my own leadership finds out :-)

Only slightly exaggerating. Still, it's no fun being stuck between loving to code and building virtual machines with my own hands, and loving to lead teams and drive projects and see the amplified output of a group working together.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#144

Post by leesalminen »

swader999 wrote: post #141
contravariant wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And arguably it's best when it's done as little as possible.

I write better non-trivial code when I get up and get away from the screen for a while. Go do something else to get my mind off it. Even sleep on it. Then the insights creep in. Hammering away at a hard problem usually makes a big mess. Sometimes three quarters of my time is spent understanding the requirements, negotiating the solution, researching, talking through the design.

Same here! Sometimes I’ve spent weeks thinking through a problem fully, talking to everyone involved (including myself) only to code whatever it was in a couple hours. It’s amazing what our brains can process subconsciously.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#145

Post by mechnesium »

I’m not coding because I’m busy searching code snippets on StackOverflow to string together something that just works.

I’m not here to write the most optimal solution in the current flavor of the month language that some asshole that comes after me is going to undo. I’m here to get shit done as fast as possible.

Learning is merely a side effect of getting shit done.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#148

Post by alaties »

Depression and medication side effects I'm still working through. There's an intense fog that forms in my head when I try to think through a problem that didn't use to be there. Even problems I've solved before I have much greater difficulty with than I remember having.

Re: Ask HN: Why aren't you coding?

#149

Post by dccoolgai »

Day job >> Kids >> wife >> dishes >> laundry >> bills >> depression

I have to break through all these barriers to get to spend a minute after work writing code. Before pandemic, would happen like once every other week, maybe. Now it's like once every three months.

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