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Can People Really Program 80+ Hours a Week?
ibn_khaldun asks: "A question in light of the EA controversy. I'm an academic researcher who does his own programming -- I have to eat what I kill. In my 35 years of coding experience, any time I try to work on a complex program for more than, say, 60 hours a week (coding, not just showing up) for a couple weeks at a time, I'm just asking for trouble: I generate buggy code and debugging it only makes it buggier. Numerous studies in other fields (law firms, hospitals) have shown that mistakes rise exponentially after anyone works about 50 hours per week (don't think about this if you go to the emergency room at 3 a.m.)." Are these rational working conditions? (More below.)
"Does EA sprinkle magic pixie dust on their serfs to get around this problem, or is the work so trivial that it can be done while pathologically sleep deprived, or are the PHB's so technically challenged they don't realize what is going on? This whole 'death march' mentality seems absolutely crazy to me as a programmer, but appears to be common. Honestly, can someone enlighten me as to how these 80+ hour weeks ever accomplish anything?"
How else do they manage to keep their software so secure?
To answer your question: Amphetamine
Not since Slashdot debuted.
80 hours a week.
.....yeah of the columbian variety!
Easy, they are overclocking their systems, and then counting the man-hours according to their CPU multiplier. The rest of the time, they are goofing off playing Quake 3 Arena for "inspiration" and "research". That's how they work high hours and yet the products still reach the shelves late.
Any other questions?
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
...states that: 'Any code is better than no code.'
But debugging that's a bit easier - just send your assistant to find out which wires are hot :)
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
I do more coke so I can work more hours so I can make more money so I can do more coke.
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
"EA games: question everything"
Paranoia is not an uncommon response to lack of sleep from overwork :-)
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Sleep is no substitute for caffeine!
the best way to do this is to get a bunch of crak addicted programmers and tell them that if they work 80+ hours a week, you will give them a fix. Trust me on this one, that not only would the work be better(by saying the better work gives more crak) but also that program would be crystal clear of errors, because crak adicts will do anything for a fix. Hell, if the government sent a bunch of druggies out to find Osamma saying he has an ounce of crak on him, hed be found in less than a week!
I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. - Catcher in the Rye
I've coded, on average, 70 hours a week, for the last six years. This has been on my own project, which is coming along nicely (after about a dozen complete rewrites, language changes, and overhauls).
:)
What are you working on- Duke Nukem Forever?
Urge to post... fading... fading... RISING!... fading... fading... gone.
I've coded, on average, 70 hours a week, for the last six years. This has been on my own project, which is coming along nicely (after about a dozen complete rewrites, language changes, and overhauls).
:)
Stop posting on Slashdot Broussard, and get back to finishing Duke Nuken Forever for petes sake - you've had long enough.
Regards,
Your Investors.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
...but if you're too tired to work properly, you're okay to DRIVE home?
rewriting history since 2109
Anybody saying otherwise is bullshitting.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
you insensitive clod!
Hmmm... let me fix that. *logs on to Wikipedia*
Done!
I usually use half of the time to finish my TPS Reports. The other half I just "space out".
It's not that I'm lazy - it's just a lack of motivation!
Resign.
- learn to swim.
" You can work 80 hours in a week,"
Why, yes, I can.
My computer, unfortunately cannot. It starts making a lot of dumb mistakes during an extended days work.
So do my pencils and pens. It a damn equipment problem, I can do it, really.
80 hr weeks == methamphetamine and marriage counseling :)
Fine then. More cheese for the rest of us!
Be careful! Bears shouldn't consume large furry dogs.
"Speed" code tends to be poorly documanted and maddeningly squirrely. I've tried to use code written by a serious gak head, and it turned out to be easier to just rewrite it from scratch.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
According to "All I really need to know in business I learned at
Microsoft" by Julie Bick, it says "Work until your physical pain
forces you into unconsciousness!!"
In all honestly they laugh. In Europe there are plenty of people who have worked in the US, and they all say it takes 10 Americans to do a normal job.
The story is the same, they get in early hang around, do a bit of work, chat, a bit of work, and so on. 12 hours later they're still at the office but only achieved 5 hours productivity.
Oh, hang on ... were you talking about taking that sort of damage for real?
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
Haha I know YOU ARE NOT my investors. They don't sign off with a smilie anymore. Indeed, when they message me in everquest they often followed with angry emoticons.
Awesome, I know a few bosses who could use some quality time with a noose.
BTW, was the company Anderson?
You should do a more indepth study on this. I volunteer to be guinea pig, for free.
silly n00bs; hire a ninja to flip out and kill him.
By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. -- George Carlin
Completely true. Sometimes playing with ideas and thinking unconventionally is exactly what you need, but a lot of the time you just need to focus and get stuff done. Some substances are just not good at helping you to get stuff done.
;)
*posting anonymously so my employer doesn't know their programmer is a stoner