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Developer's block

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Re: Developer's block

#61

Post by mikepurvis »

esperent wrote: post #23
Martin_Silenus wrote: post #17

Sleep. Best side task for your brain. How many times has this happened to me? You struggle with a feature or a bug, you think about it, you weigh the pros and cons for hours... because you don't want to start something that will set you back. You're tired, but you don't want to go to sleep until you've at least made a decision for tomorrow. Go to sleep. Now. Then you wake up knowing immediately what to do. You hardly…

Also exercise. Sleep restores you. Exercise is the spark.

Good exercise also contributes to good sleep. I sleep like a log after a good bike ride or an evening out swing dancing, but if all I did was sit at my desk all day then it’s a lot more likely I’ll be tossing and turning or doom scrolling into the wee hours.

Re: Developer's block

#62

Post by Minor49er »

raincole wrote: post #10
siva7 wrote: post #3

I love how we developers see ourselves like creative writers instead of plumbers

Haven't heard plumbers launching side plumbing projects. But who knows, perhaps they do and just don't post on HN.

Plumbers typically work on a variety of different buildings

Re: Developer's block

#63

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

chrisweekly wrote: post #55
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #16

> Release early, release often I’m big on this. I find it efficacious to have an integrated product going as soon as possible, even if it’s a field of stubs. It’s my experience that I almost never know what the end product will look like, no matter how much upfront planning time I devote, so being able to test and iterate the whole system, as soon as possible, is pretty vital. It’s also one reason that I like to use…

Your linked post about test harnesses is outstanding; thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Re: Developer's block

#64

Post by libraryofbabel »

binaryturtle wrote: post #39
Martin_Silenus wrote: post #17

Sleep. Best side task for your brain. How many times has this happened to me? You struggle with a feature or a bug, you think about it, you weigh the pros and cons for hours... because you don't want to start something that will set you back. You're tired, but you don't want to go to sleep until you've at least made a decision for tomorrow. Go to sleep. Now. Then you wake up knowing immediately what to do. You hardly…

I just take a hot bath… best ideas happen in the bathtub for me.

Mathematician JE Littlewood was a big proponent of walking and shaving for ideas:

> “Illumination, which can happen in a fraction of a second, is the emergence of the creative idea into the conscious. This almost always occurs when the mind is in a state of relaxation, and engaged lightly with ordinary matters. Helmholtz's ideas usually came to him when he was walking in hilly country. There is a lot to be said for walking during rest periods, unpopular as the idea may be. Incidentally, the relaxed activity of shaving can be a fruitful source of minor ideas; I used to postpone it, when possible, till after a period of work.”

I also recommend walking, I leave shaving to the men to try, and would add that like many others the shower is my most happy place for ideas and hitting on the causes of difficult bugs.

Re: Developer's block

#65

Post by danjl »

Naming was often my biggest block. I often know the project topic, but cannot choose a name. Then, of course, there's variable, function and file naming. Turns out the AI is fantastic at choosing good names, so that block is largely obviated these days.

Re: Developer's block

#67

Post by danjl »

raincole wrote: post #10
siva7 wrote: post #3

I love how we developers see ourselves like creative writers instead of plumbers

Haven't heard plumbers launching side plumbing projects. But who knows, perhaps they do and just don't post on HN.

Many plumbers start their own business, or work on contract. As a startup founder, I gained a huge respect for anyone, in any industry that managed to create a business where people pay them money. From Mom&Pop shops, to plumbers, to tech founders. Most of the real problems are the same.

Re: Developer's block

#68

Post by dunham »

danjl wrote: post #65

Naming was often my biggest block. I often know the project topic, but cannot choose a name. Then, of course, there's variable, function and file naming. Turns out the AI is fantastic at choosing good names, so that block is largely obviated these days.

I had a block for a while because I _had_ chosen a name for my language. Suddenly what I was writing was the official implementation, it had to be "right", and I got design paralysis. I found I was making further progress doing exercises outside that repository. (It's all good now, and I have a self-hosted language.)

At the function level, I'll often write the function and then rename it with F2 after I've written it.

Re: Developer's block

#69

Post by eschneider »

Martin_Silenus wrote: post #17

Sleep. Best side task for your brain. How many times has this happened to me? You struggle with a feature or a bug, you think about it, you weigh the pros and cons for hours... because you don't want to start something that will set you back. You're tired, but you don't want to go to sleep until you've at least made a decision for tomorrow. Go to sleep. Now. Then you wake up knowing immediately what to do. You hardly…

So much this. As I've gotten older, instead of working half the night on a difficult end-of-day problem that I'm stuck on, I just set it aside at the end of the day and by the time I start back up in the morning, I've got a good idea how to solve it.

Does it mean THAT problem gets solved later? Sometimes, but often not. And more importantly, I'm maintaining a pace that's SUSTAINABLE. I can crank on hard problems almost constantly, but I leave myself some space so I don't get burned out.

Re: Developer's block

#70

Post by polishdude20 »

mikepurvis wrote: post #61
esperent wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also exercise. Sleep restores you. Exercise is the spark.

Good exercise also contributes to good sleep. I sleep like a log after a good bike ride or an evening out swing dancing, but if all I did was sit at my desk all day then it’s a lot more likely I’ll be tossing and turning or doom scrolling into the wee hours.

Just had a very tiring long run yesterday. Spent the night still scrolling haha.
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