Subj : Re: programmer concentration
To   : comp.programming
From : Martin Eisenberg
Date : Wed Jul 20 2005 03:00 pm

beliavsky wrote:

> (1) What is a good way for a programmer to spend his time when
> he must take a break in coding while waiting for a program to
> compile and run?

Granting that everyone's cranks surely turn slightly differently in 
this area, the answer depends on your stress and intrigue levels as 
well as on the complexity of the task and how much time you have. It 
is natural to dislike losing all that working memory state, but it 
can also be beneficial to let go and rebuild it, giving your 
conceptualization room to evolve. I'd consider all of the following 
good break topics, non-exhaustive and in order of decreasing 
immediacy:

- what you have just accomplished
- the next step
- how your stuff fits into the system
- how your experience pertains to current issues
- parallel or hobby project, the project you're going to join
- private matters, music, beach sunset...

If you let your mind freewheel and end up thinking about the program, 
do not resist it. Just check that the super-elegant implementation 
idea from that state isn't much too Clever ;)

> (2) For how long should a good programmer be able to concentrate
> in one stretch?

You can sustain clear deep thinking better if it is punctured with 
less intense activities. Varying mental tension by choosing from 
topics like the above keeps you awake. I also believe that you should 
walk around or stand up for five minutes total in every one to 1 1/2 
hour of working even when there is nothing to compile. Not that I 
always manage, though...


Martin

-- 
Teach a man to make fire, and he will be
warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he
will be warm for the rest of his life.
--John A. Hrastar

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