Why Programming Rituals Work 233
narramissic writes "Programmers may not think that their rituals are unusual, but if you swear that your code is less buggy if you recite it aloud or you prepare for coding by listening to certain music, don't be surprised if you get a couple sideways glances. In a recent ITworld article, Issac Kelly, Lead Developer at Servee.com, explains his routine and why it works: 'To me, programming is really the 'last mile' to getting something done. When I do the planning and specifications, I go on lots of walks, take lots of time with my wife, and really do as little work in front of the computer as possible. The more I plan (in my head, on paper, on a whiteboard) the less I program; and all of my rituals are to that end.' His ritual goes like this: 'Before sitting down to a coding session, he gets a big glass of water, takes everything off of his desk, and closes out all programs and e-mail, keeping open only his code editor. The office door is shut, and some sort of music is playing ('typically an instrumental only, like my 'Explosions in the Sky' pandora station,' says Kelly).'"
Re:Close door (Score:3, Informative)
Wear Gun Muffs...
Re:Close door (Score:3, Informative)
I bought a pair of Etymotic ER6i IEM earphones four years ago and I still consider it one of the best purchases I've ever made. I got them originally so I could listen to my own music at the gym without having the stuff they play there bleed in. They worked so well that I now use them in my cube or occasionally in noisy environments like our lab.
Re:Iteration vs planning... (Score:1, Informative)
Thank you! In my experience, people who sit around and plan everything out don't produce very good code, nor do they do it very quickly.
When I'm solving a problem I start coding the second I have an idea what I'm doing. I prototype a solution as quick as possible, and refactor things repeatedly from there, trying to get it exactly how I want.
If I were to try and do all this in my head I find that I a) forget things, or b) work only at a high level, without realizing there are low level implementation details that will break the high level solution.
I *could* work things out on paper with diagrams/english/whatever, but what's the point? My (programming) language is the best description of my solution, why would I bother with anything else? Some people tell me they can work faster on paper / in their head than they can code. Why not just get better at reading/writing/thinking in your language?
Re:Close door (Score:1, Informative)
Don't know if it's better than pink noise, but definitely nicer: ChatterBlocker [chatterblocker.com] (Caution: nasty popup when you close the tab)