• Coding

  • Weird things you noticed about programming

Here's my list:

1- I write better code late nights
2- I learn better between 2:00am and 6:00am
3- I must have my pepsi close.
4- I'm more focused when it's raining/cold.
5- I find solutions just when I was about to hit the bathroom (Or would it be, when I find solutions, i hit the bathroom, hmmm)
6- I dream of code when asleep and I wake up, make coffee and must try it no matter the time.
7- I code better when challenged.
8- I think better in teams
9- I don't want to micromanage but my gut keeps telling me to do it. (This is the worst)
10- I preach too much.
11- I prefer to teach than practice.
12- I'm anal about LOC

What are yours?
I write better code when Ayman is online.
I write better code when I first write the code in an m-file no matter what the language (I don't even have to execute it, just seeing it in an m-file makes me comfy)
4- I'm more focused when it's raining/cold.
This should help.

I need complete silence to code productively. If that's not an option, I fire-up rainymood (linked above) or put on some ambient music (Brian Eno's ambient series are recommended).
samer wroteThis should help.
Awesome!
Same list except it is a diet pepsi.
xterm wroteHere's my list:

1- I write better code late nights
2- I learn better between 2:00am and 6:00am
3- I must have my pepsi close.
4- I'm more focused when it's raining/cold.
5- I find solutions just when I was about to hit the bathroom (Or would it be, when I find solutions, i hit the bathroom, hmmm)
6- I dream of code when asleep and I wake up, make coffee and must try it no matter the time.
7- I code better when challenged.
8- I think better in teams
9- I don't want to micromanage but my gut keeps telling me to do it. (This is the worst)
10- I preach too much.
11- I prefer to teach than practice.
12- I'm anal about LOC

What are yours?
almost the same except, i do not code, i command and i am trying to give up on my coke addiction. in addition, i am in a total coma and grumpy thru out the morning and until i have had my mid day siesta.

things i hate, having to have lunch at 11:00 -12:00 AM (nordic style )
1. talk to myself when something weird is going on.
2. shouting loudly if something is not working, more shouting if some code was working and suddenly doesn't.
3. solutions for problems come a lot under the shower, shouting too in excitement.
4. water and smokes on normal days, "rakwe" and smokes Saturday mornings and afternoons, Saturday night is the best: Coding,Beer,Cigar.
5. Silence or few selective bands.
6. can't code if I'm cold.
incinerator wrote1. talk to myself when something weird is going on.
2. shouting loudly if something is not working, more shouting if some code was working and suddenly doesn't.
I forgot these.

My wife laughs at me because she constantly hears me saying:

1. Wlik ya allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
2. Eh tab3an! shou 7mar ana
3. *&#*$&%*&#$(*!
hmm well here's mine:

1- I love coding in a calm place, mostly starting at midnight.

2- If I hear a noise or music (any kind) I can't focus.

3- I start talking to myself and snapping my fingers when I'm thinking to fix errors.

4- I put my self phone on silent mode ( no vibration ).

5- I close any other program running ( specially chatting clients ).

6- I start smoking like a b**** :P .

7- If I face an obstacle, I get some fresh air or go out and play some Pool.

8- I don't go to the bathroom if I'm close to find a solution...even if I'm close enough to pee on myself :P lol .

9- I swear too much.

10- I'm easily raged when coding...so if someone comes to talk about any thing.. even if someone's DYING I rage big time :P...

11- Start hitting the stupid laptop sometimes (yeah like that's going to fix the problem..:p).
1- I cannot drink nor smoke while I'm coding. I get into a "trance" mode, where my concentration is never off the code, the keyboard and the screen. Everything else is a distraction.

2- When I find a solution, I stand up. Every time, it's a nervous thing.

3- I have to work on many projects at once, all of which are constantly "work in progress".

4- I can code fluently on both qwerty and azerty keyboards; I actually toggle between the two daily.

5- I am terrible with deadlines, and worse, estimating development time.

6- I always code in languages that are familiar. I wish I was a bit more curious.
xterm wrote
incinerator wrote1. talk to myself when something weird is going on.
2. shouting loudly if something is not working, more shouting if some code was working and suddenly doesn't.
I forgot these.

My wife laughs at me because she constantly hears me saying:

1. Wlik ya allaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
2. Eh tab3an! shou 7mar ana
3. *&#*$&%*&#$(*!
My wife tells me that almost every night she wakes up when I am asleep to laugh at me as I ll be (mrawbas) and I would be actually trying to type on the pillow as if it is a keyboard...
samer wrote
4- I'm more focused when it's raining/cold.
This should help.

I need complete silence to code productively. If that's not an option, I fire-up rainymood (linked above) or put on some ambient music (Brian Eno's ambient series are recommended).
LOVED IT
1. Just like xterm, I also dream about code as well, especially when I'm really involved in a feature that I need to implement.

2. I often get stuck on the silliest mistakes you could ever think of (this might last for hours), while I tend to solve complex problems with ease.

3. When (2) happens, I get very furious after finding out how silly the mistake was. The swearing & shouting begins.

4. I noticed that I am very productive between 10PM and 2AM (when I used to work as a freelance). But many times when I get stuck after 12 midnight, the next day I would wake up, fire up Visual Studio and find a solution in less than 5 minutes.

5. I tend to scream "wlak ana 2estez!! I'm a GENIUS" when I solve a complex problem or resolve an annoying bug.

6. Sometimes when I'm completely focused on the code, I forget to drink or eat almost all day long.

7. I care too much about writing clean code and following best practices, it hinders my productivity sometimes.

8. I download (or ask my friends to download) a whole lot of programming screencasts/video series. I watched MANY so far, but many are still pending as well.

9. I tend to move from technology to another relatively fast. I know a lot of technologies, but I'm probably not an expert at any of them yet.

10. Now that I'm working at a company, I tend to criticize old code (written by other team members) very much, but I kinda feel it's insulting to others if I refactor their code.
Kassem wrote5. I tend to scream "wlak ana 2estez!! I'm a GENIUS" when I solve a complex problem or resolve an annoying bug.
I don't think that ever happened, me thinking that I am genius for solving a problem, I usually think, "so what!!". Refer to xterms post here for more info ;)
xterm wrote
incinerator wrote1. talk to myself when something weird is going on.
2. shouting loudly if something is not working, more shouting if some code was working and suddenly doesn't.
I forgot these.

My wife laughs at me because she constantly hears me saying:

2. Eh tab3an! shou 7mar ana
3. *&#*$&%*&#$(*!
i do that at work ..
rahmu wroteWhen I find a solution, I stand up. Every time, it's a nervous thing.
Same here, I stand up and pace when I figure something out, like I'm trying to make sure my brain wraps around the idea quickly and not let go.
(After it's all typed in and tested, I stand up again for a celebratory pace around the apartment.)

For those of you who like natural soundscapes in the background: I listen to Aura, where you can configure sounds of birds, running stream, occasional rain, crackling fire etc.
- I am more productive when someone is holding me company, preferably also working on a computer
- The code I write late at night is much more likely to be buggy and superfluous, although I tend to write more and concentrate more at that time
- I need my dose of sunlight every day
- When I give an estimated time, it's ALWAYS at least twice that time, even if I already doubled that time to take into consideration that :). I mostly start to up my pace one day from the deadline.
- When I'm frustrated my standard curse is "aaaaaaah!"
- Yes I also have this thing about standing up once work starts flowing (or I settle for a solution), for a trip to the fridge, just walking around, or even just checking these forums. I wonder why that is.
Kassem wrote4. I noticed that I am very productive between 10PM and 2AM (when I used to work as a freelance). But many times when I get stuck after 12 midnight, the next day I would wake up, fire up Visual Studio and find a solution in less than 5 minutes.
Exactly, that's what I meant.
Kassem wrote10. Now that I'm working at a company, I tend to criticize old code (written by other team members) very much, but I kinda feel it's insulting to others if I refactor their code.
If it works well, then better not touch it. You can take advantage of a new project to refactor it, but don't compromise anything which is currently running on top of it.
- If I try to reply to someone while coding I always sound like a teenage boy lacking self-confidence
- When am learning something new, I always feel am timing myself up and judging myself
- I can't think/code with any kind of conversation going on, but music without crisp lyrics is mostly ok and sometimes helps
- I drive myself crazy about the architecture of a solution, but usually won't share it with a colleague since I don't feel they'll be able to grasp. It's definitely bad to feel you have a gap of vocabulary with the ones you work. This drives me to a work-mode architecture mode (over simplified, no use of language features to aid in productivity...)
- I always try to have to think as little as possible. This entails some serious thought process.
- I'll mess up between VB and C# when coding in Visual Studio. This doesn't usually happen when I open FlashDevelop for Actionscript code, or even when am writing Javascript
- I try not to learn on the job as I have a sick belief that I should have already known this particular thing while doing it.
- I enjoy coding and thinking about algorithms a lot more than writing data massage applications. When am writing an algorithm at work, I feel something is really wrong and that I shouldn't have to write this kind of thing. (I rarely have to anyway, but sometimes it comes up and I can do it, but it feels funny).
- Recently, I am getting tired easily, so my concentration period has shortened from 2-4 hours to 15-30 minutes. Usually.