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Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

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Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#161

Post by ahshdiazzz662 »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #154
sodapopcan wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why I try to keep functions/modules as simple as possible and ideally not longer in length than I can see on my screen at once (when possible) This is the paradox of "readable" code. Each person has a different definition of it. I also prefer to write as dumb code as possible (well, these days I do, I of course tried to be extra clever in my earlier days). But for me it's the jumping around that makes me lose focus…

> As a side note, I despise things like imports and aliases. I'd prefer that when I do jump to a function, I can read it without having to check if anything is imported or not. One idea might be to use an LSP (Language Server Protocol) interface. It could describe the fully qualified symbol for you when you, say, select the abbreviated symbol or press a keyboard shortcut. I've been working on a moderately large C pro…

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Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#162

Post by sodapopcan »

ziml77 wrote: post #157
sodapopcan wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why I try to keep functions/modules as simple as possible and ideally not longer in length than I can see on my screen at once (when possible) This is the paradox of "readable" code. Each person has a different definition of it. I also prefer to write as dumb code as possible (well, these days I do, I of course tried to be extra clever in my earlier days). But for me it's the jumping around that makes me lose focus…

For me it's not just the jumps but also overly long names. My ability to quickly scan the code is hindered by names that all jumble together because they aren't visually distinct enough. And when they read like a book, I'm going to have the same problems I have when reading books where I'm somehow reading all these words across the page but at the same time not actually processing any of it.

What constitutes an overly long name for you? Are you talking Java-y things likes `UserAccountBuilderFactoryFactory` or even just something like `operation` instead of `op`?

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#163

Post by dagmx »

formulathree wrote: post #159
dagmx wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you work at the majority of companies? I can tell you that I’ve worked with code bases from each of the FAANG companies that don’t use type checking, because it’s optional. Anything that’s optional in a language will not be ubiquitous Your statements are incongruent with the reality of production.

I've likely worked for more companies then you in the last 5 years or so due to my personality. I don't stay at one place for long. Actually I've probably worked for more in my entire career, but only the last 5 years should be relevant. Even so where I worked is only part of the equation. You can look up which companies use python types in a google search. Let me add more nuance, companies that use python as glue co…

I’m unsure how you can so confidently make that assertion.

Even at companies that do use type hints, there’ll be tons of legacy code that won’t (and probably tons of new code as well if we’re being realistic).

It’s like saying every company uses bash scripts. It’s not really indicative of the prevalence in actual code bases in production use other than saying it may be used somewhere within the company.

Between this and your other comments, you’re making very widespread comments that can’t logically apply to everything and nor do they in my experience.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#164

Post by hirvi74 »

dkh wrote: post #16

As an engineer for 10+ years with pretty severe ADHD (unmedicated, I cannot usually even read more than a few pages of a book before either losing focus or feeling drained) I have always been aware of how much my performance fluctuates based on the cognitive load of dealing with the code I am currently working with, and how it is displayed. I half-jokingly tend to describe it to people as having a "small brain buffer…

> As an engineer for 10+ years with pretty severe ADHD (unmedicated...

How did you do it? I wasn't diagnosed until my early adulthood, but even with medication, I feel like I can barely keep my head above water.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#165

Post by TylerE »

whartung wrote: post #126
npunt wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This idea of a 'small brain buffer' is why I love writing small atomic notes in wikis [1]. It lets me break problems down into simple pieces that I can later assemble upward in abstraction, rather than try to hold complex ideas in my head and compile them together in one big document. The buffer waxes and wanes, and I need to be able to adapt my writing process so I'm productive no matter where it is at the moment. […

Do you have this issue of where you start in on something, you’re making progress, there’s velocity, the work seems cogent, and then...it’s gone. Whatever point you had, whatever drive was there, is just gone. The wind has calmed and the sails just drop loose on the mast. This happens to me, both in my own work, or writing something like this, and then I just dump it. Kind of aggravating.

Yes, it's the not so nice flipside of hyperfocus.

What I do is: Not feel in the slightest guilty about it, because I just came off a stretch of real 10x productivity, and then go do something else for a half hour or so that exercises a different part of the brain - grab one of the many musical instruments around me, for instance.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#166

Post by technojamin »

bob1029 wrote: post #122

Even "lite" editors like VSCode, NP++, Sublime Text, etc have become distracting for me. Every time I fire one of these things up, my mental state is eliminated by being forced to dismiss some "hey we got a new version for you :D:D:D" bullshit modal. To whomever is responsible for adding these to apps: please stop. No one is enjoying your shenanigans. It is a text editor . Empathize with the user: People with far les…

VS Code isn't actually that bad with its extension and application updates. When an extension has been updated, it'll try to load the new version in-memory (if the extension supports it), otherwise it'll add a badge to the Extensions panel icon in the sidebar, leaving a subtle reminder that you need to restart in order to get the new extension update. For updates to VS Code proper, it adds a badge to the settings icon. No popups or notifications. You can also disable auto-updating for extensions and the application if you find the badges distracting.

Now, if certain extensions try to get your attention with notifications or automatically opening release notes, that can absolutely be a problem. Extensions vary wildly in quality, since the barrier for publishing one is effectively nothing. These leaves the job of curating good, non-spammy extensions up to the developer.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#167

Post by ranting-moth »

> "We found that the perceptual load does affect programmers’ efficiency."

Yeah, not a surprise of the century for me. Is there an similar research on interruptions? Especially Slack going ping ping all the day? I wonder how much those interruptions cost the industry. I know they have benefits too.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#168

Post by BaculumMeumEst »

dkh wrote: post #16

As an engineer for 10+ years with pretty severe ADHD (unmedicated, I cannot usually even read more than a few pages of a book before either losing focus or feeling drained) I have always been aware of how much my performance fluctuates based on the cognitive load of dealing with the code I am currently working with, and how it is displayed. I half-jokingly tend to describe it to people as having a "small brain buffer…

Finely aged, unmedicated, severe ADHD fist bump! I share your struggles. I find drawing lots of diagrams helpful.

Re: Effect of perceptual load on performance within IDE in people with ADHD symptoms

#170

Post by southwesterly »

npunt wrote: post #132
tomjakubowski wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been doing this too in Obsidian and really like it. Notes can be as short or long as feels right. If they need to grow they can grow, sometimes they get split into sub notes. I have notes with titles like "Cardboard furniture", "Staging patch changes in VSCode", and "Hilbert Transform". Some are one or two sentences, some are more like essays with subheadings. Small notes tend to have one or two links to other n…

Yep, Obsidian is the best! Two patterns I use a lot to help with this small brain buffer problem are collections & streams. Collections (sometimes called 'Maps of Content') are sets of internal & external links or resources around a particular topic, e.g. 'Self Deception', 'Creativity', 'Air Quality', etc. The page names represent the topic so they're easy to name, and if I can't find a page I go to these first befor…

I like this technique. Thanks.
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