[HN Gopher] The real "must have" tools for programming
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The real "must have" tools for programming
Author : jwdunne
Score : 42 points
Date : 2023-04-05 16:42 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (jamesdunne.dev)
(TXT) w3m dump (jamesdunne.dev)
| luuuzeta wrote:
| >During sleep, your brain restructures and reorganises
| information, creating links between unrelated ideas. This leads
| to new, creative ideas that you use in your day to day to solve
| problems and write better software.
|
| This reminds of the character Ko Murakami in the manga _World
| Trigger_ , who can master anything after trying it once and then
| sleeping on it. Great read if you like manga around strategies
| and battles.
| hot_gril wrote:
| There's another point of social life in relation to work: When
| you write software, you're working with people, not computers.
| You have human end users or other humans writing software that
| interfaces with yours. No matter where in the stack you are,
| understanding people makes you a better programmer or engineer.
| hintymad wrote:
| Very true. I've seen too many engineers lose focus easily due to
| poor sleep. What's even worse is that many of my fellow engineers
| lost curiosity over time. They thought it was due to age or
| burden from raising a family, but it's really about managing
| energy. Intense curiosity requires intensive mental energy, which
| one can't get from drinking coffee all day.
| baerrie wrote:
| +1 to stopping the coffee.
| jemmyw wrote:
| I enjoy a couple of cups of coffee a day for its own sake. My
| understanding is that you normalize to the caffeine so if you
| enjoy coffee just drink roughly the same amount every day.
| Giving it up is unlikely to change your sleep much unless
| you're consuming a silly amount (which some people do).
|
| And, as I mentioned to my wife earlier this week, if I feel
| stressed or something has upset me then just the motions of
| making coffee or tea is relaxing.
| michaelsalim wrote:
| Was pleasantly surprised with the list. Agree with all of them.
| The last point about notebooks has especially been useful for me
| the past few year. There's just something different about using
| it to help you think.
|
| Most of the time, I don't finish fleshing out an idea on paper.
| But the act of writing (or drawing) it somehow helps me explore
| new concepts faster. After that I just continue coding or
| whatever the next steps is. It's also useful when I want to sort
| or categorize different ideas/thoughts into sections.
|
| I'd like to add that it's really nice to have a notebook always
| in front of you. Mine is always open & ready to be used. It sits
| right in the middle of my split keyboard so it's literally always
| in front of me.
| jemmyw wrote:
| Some people need a notebook. I don't. I've never found extra
| productivity from jotting things down like that. And over the
| years people have actually made me feel bad about that "you
| don't write things down? you should, it helps organise your
| mind" whatever. Put a pen in my hand and a doodle comes out. I
| have a good memory and I can usually visualize problems, and
| when I cannot then I use computer based drawing tools to figure
| it out. I've no idea why some people feel the need to almost
| bully over this, but I've actually pretended to note things
| down on paper in meetings before to avoid scrutiny.
|
| What I'm saying is: a notebook and pen is not an essential must
| have tool for programming. If you use them then all power to
| you, but if you don't then do not feel like you're doing things
| incorrectly, and don't listen to people telling you otherwise.
| lhh wrote:
| Don't underestimate the benefit of exercise on mental
| performance. Your brain is a physical thing after all,
| mitochondria and all, and exercise improves its ability to
| function. Plus you'll feel way better, and probably live better
| for longer.
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(page generated 2023-04-05 23:02 UTC)