Comments on: Programming productivity http://blog.ngedit.com/2005/06/16/programming-productivity/ A blog on the development of the NGEDIT text editor Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:30:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Jon http://blog.ngedit.com/2005/06/16/programming-productivity/#comment-243771 Jon Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:06:30 +0000 http://blog.ngedit.com/2005/06/16/programming-productivity/#comment-243771 Zoltan, thanks for your comment. This was an old blog post, but I'm still dabbling with my issues with productivity. You can check some of the more recent thoughts here: http://blog.ngedit.com/2009/01/28/laser-like-focus/ (although, after posting, I thought this might have needed to be a bit more tongue-in-cheek). If you have very, very little time, I'd suggest you simplify your goals and expectations to very distilled things. I'd suggest you use Python or a similarly high-level language, so that you don't have to waste a moment in stupid stuff (like Java, C++, etc... force you to). If you're into visual / graphical things, I think you should also consider the Processing language, or even ActionScript (Flash). I saw this yesterday: http://www.25lines.com/?page_id=186 That's what some people can do with 25 lines of code! The language you are using makes a great difference - it's impossible to do one tenth of that with 1000 lines of Java or C/C++. You shouldn't be ashamed of needing a bit of time to satiate your intellectual needs, the same way you shouldn't be ashamed of needing to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. If you don't pay a bit of attention to your needs, you won't be the happy person who others need for help. My respect and my best wishes, good luck with your wife and your son. Zoltan, thanks for your comment. This was an old blog post, but I’m still dabbling with my issues with productivity. You can check some of the more recent thoughts here: http://blog.ngedit.com/2009/01/28/laser-like-focus/ (although, after posting, I thought this might have needed to be a bit more tongue-in-cheek).

If you have very, very little time, I’d suggest you simplify your goals and expectations to very distilled things. I’d suggest you use Python or a similarly high-level language, so that you don’t have to waste a moment in stupid stuff (like Java, C++, etc… force you to).

If you’re into visual / graphical things, I think you should also consider the Processing language, or even ActionScript (Flash). I saw this yesterday:

http://www.25lines.com/?page_id=186

That’s what some people can do with 25 lines of code! The language you are using makes a great difference - it’s impossible to do one tenth of that with 1000 lines of Java or C/C++.

You shouldn’t be ashamed of needing a bit of time to satiate your intellectual needs, the same way you shouldn’t be ashamed of needing to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. If you don’t pay a bit of attention to your needs, you won’t be the happy person who others need for help.

My respect and my best wishes, good luck with your wife and your son.

]]> By: Zoltan http://blog.ngedit.com/2005/06/16/programming-productivity/#comment-243691 Zoltan Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:39:02 +0000 http://blog.ngedit.com/2005/06/16/programming-productivity/#comment-243691 Thanks for your musings. There is truth in what you say, but there can be another side to. I'm an amateur who used to program for fun when I was single and will still simplify tasks at work with the occasional programming project. My procrastination has taken on an added dimension: I have to spend so much time taking care of my wife and kid that if I do have an odd moment to myself, I know I can't write a productive line of code before somebody is hollering for help. Control of the clock is like that of a superbowl winning team. I have a project that I think would be helpful that I have tried to do for years and have made progess on at times. I had gotten to just short of putting in the neat parts, well closer to that anyway than I had been. If I have extra time, I'll play a game of speed chess on the net--you can always hit the resign button. It has been such a long time that I have had a decent chunk of time to put into programming that I pretty much want it at least as much as sex. My wife has neurological problems giving a lot of pain. My son is autistic in a high functioning way. Both take a lot of time and care. I'm kind of ashamed of having my own agenda, but have a problem just denying a side of myself as my skills, such as they may have been, atrophy. Thanks for your musings. There is truth in what you say, but there can be another side to. I’m an amateur who used to program for fun when I was single and will still simplify tasks at work with the occasional programming project. My procrastination has taken on an added dimension: I have to spend so much time taking care of my wife and kid that if I do have an odd moment to myself, I know I can’t write a productive line of code before somebody is hollering for help. Control of the clock is like that of a superbowl winning team.

I have a project that I think would be helpful that I have tried to do for years and have made progess on at times. I had gotten to just short of putting in the neat parts, well closer to that anyway than I had been. If I have extra time, I’ll play a game of speed chess on the net–you can always hit the resign button. It has been such a long time that I have had a decent chunk of time to put into programming that I pretty much want it at least as much as sex.

My wife has neurological problems giving a lot of pain. My son is autistic in a high functioning way. Both take a lot of time and care. I’m kind of ashamed of having my own agenda, but have a problem just denying a side of myself as my skills, such as they may have been, atrophy.

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