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"Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

themoah.posterous.com

71–80 of 96 posts

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#71
post #7

I don't listen to music with words. My brain's language processing unit goes into action, and disrupts my ability to code. Instrumentals, electronic music, or classical music are fine.

Interesting. I can't listen to classical music when coding. I think it's because I'm used to listening to that particular style actively rather than passively as I'm used to with most music.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#72
post #11

I now listen to white noise while coding. I have an mp3 called 'Lost In Space' from a CD called 'White Noise Therapy,' which I play on repeat. It's the sort of sound effect they use in sci fi films when a big space freighter drifts onto screen. It helps because I can turn it up to shut out other sounds, but there's nothing there to follow or analyse whatsoever. I get a nice clear head with that. Sometimes though if m…

:) I use White Noise app on Android and use Extreme Rain or Beach or Windchime sounds.

Also, instrumentals without vocals (taken from Jamendo [particularly that of artists Silence / StrangeZero], or mellow ones (SomaFM Lush) are others that I play in background. Helps me a lot.

>>instrumental jazz or classical

hmm. Even this, I like. Jazz / classical piano/violin. [ e.g, OSTs from The Conversation, by David Shire]. At times, even celtic music helps for me.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the life of me I don't understand why cubicles are the norm for developer offices. There have been numerous studies showing the productivity effects of open offices vs individual offices. And many more studies on the importance of concentration and the destructive power of interruptions. Do people value programmer productivity so little that they're willing to throw so much of it away to save a few dollars in rea…

I've tried having this conversation so many times at my current place! We don't just have an open plan office, we have a huge open plan office with a mix of developers, client facing staff, managers, secretaries, phones going off, people wandering through to the kitchen or toilets, small meetings going on around tables.... It's a terrible work environment for actually getting to focus on what you're doing, yet any su…

I work in an open plan office as well... And it is a mix of client facing staff and developers. For them it works really well. Not so much for us devs. Sennheiser CX300-B's are a real life saver. I tend to listen to Daft Punk or other music that I know really well (with the general exception of classical). I have found that brown noise also works very well.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried having this conversation so many times at my current place! We don't just have an open plan office, we have a huge open plan office with a mix of developers, client facing staff, managers, secretaries, phones going off, people wandering through to the kitchen or toilets, small meetings going on around tables.... It's a terrible work environment for actually getting to focus on what you're doing, yet any su…

Does that head honcho sit out there with all of you, or does he/she have a private office? Just curious.

Not sure about the parent poster, but in my case, yes. Well. The head honcho's for that department anyway.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#76
post #31

"During the 1960s, researchers at Cornell University conducted a series of tests on the effects of working with music. They polled a group of computer science students and divided the students into two groups, those who liked to have music in the background while they worked (studied) and those who did not. Then they put half of each group together in a silent room, and the other half of each group in a different roo…

Would listening to music you like also release dopamine, and therefore make mundane work more bearable?

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#77
post #64
post #31

"During the 1960s, researchers at Cornell University conducted a series of tests on the effects of working with music. They polled a group of computer science students and divided the students into two groups, those who liked to have music in the background while they worked (studied) and those who did not. Then they put half of each group together in a silent room, and the other half of each group in a different roo…

I can believe that. I listen to music (generally sans lyrics) only when I'm doing stuff that's relatively repetitive and un-taxing. I don't think it makes me more productive, but it does make me happier.

So yea my hypothesis is that listening to music you like would release dopamine and make mundane work more bearable. It's also how psycho-stimulants like Adderall help ADHD people focus.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#78
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those benefits are not worthwhile to me personally. I want to code, not constantly overhear office chatter.

Then you could work at home, no? For me development is teamwork, and we do it in a war room, wich like extreme cubicle. It works very well, just isolate with headphones and heavily use chat, even for people at your desk. Ask the team to receive calls outside and to talk softly to each other.

Yep, working from home is great. Or within an office with an actual door.

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#79
post #7

I don't listen to music with words. My brain's language processing unit goes into action, and disrupts my ability to code. Instrumentals, electronic music, or classical music are fine.

Interesting. I can't listen to classical music when coding. I think it's because I'm used to listening to that particular style actively rather than passively as I'm used to with most music.

i can listen to trance / electronic music and it actually opens a part of my mind that is otherwise more difficult to access. pop / rock / hip hop tends to distract me. einstein loved listening to music while he wondered about the mysteries of our universe. if it is good enough for einstein...

Re: "Do you listen to music while coding?" An analysis.

#80
post #31

"During the 1960s, researchers at Cornell University conducted a series of tests on the effects of working with music. They polled a group of computer science students and divided the students into two groups, those who liked to have music in the background while they worked (studied) and those who did not. Then they put half of each group together in a silent room, and the other half of each group in a different roo…

I agree that silence is probably better than any sort of music for programming. Unfortunately, that's not the choice programmers often have to deal with. Usually, its a choice between music and the usual office distractions (other people's conversations, the noise of people moving around, etc.) In those cases any sort of music to block out background noise is a godsend. Having headphones on also signals to visitors t…

Earplugs.
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