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Finding a Personal Coding Trifecta
jammag writes "For Seinfeld's George Constanza, his dream of the ideal moment was having sex while watching TV and eating a pastrami sandwich. He called this Nirvana state 'The Trifecta.' Developer Eric Spiegel adapts this concept of Nirvana to the act of writing your best possible code. He examines all (or most) of the possible things that might contribute to the 'The Trifecta' for developers — food, beverages, time of day. Spiegel also describes his personal Trifecta."
taking a shit, eating pizza, and a porn-star quality blow job.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
You only need one thing.
Wow, way to avoid reinforcing stereotypes there, Eric!
egypt urnash minimal art.
while the article is lame, the subject is not.
More important than what you need to get into your zone (because I think we all know how this works for our own needs), is how do you explain this to others who do not understand "the zone"?
The hardest part for me is getting others to respect my zone. They just don't understand. For kids, you can't really blame them. You just have to stay out of sight and out of mind. But for the adults, they often just don't get it.
The biggest "zone breakers" are interruptions of any kind or duration. Having to stop for even one minute to take a call or acknowledge a communication can break your flow completely and it can take time to get back into gear. I think there have even been studies showing it takes some 15 minutes average to get back.
And of course this applies to anyone doing something highly creative or thoughtful.
-- Senior Software Engineer, Attorney appearance services, locallawyerapp.com.
I can't remember where I first read this definition...
Professional:
Someone who can do his very best work, even when he doesn't feel like it.
A few days of a free schedule, no interruptions, and a private, quiet workspace will do the trick for me.
Go away...
No, seriously, just go away...
Whatever makes you happy is the important part.
And writing good code will make your life easier than writing sloppy code since the sloppy code will haunt you forever.
Just being able to avoid those 02:00 in the morning calls the day before an important event accounts for a lot. A clear conscience makes you sleep well and have time over for your favorite actions. If that resolves to painting, making love or hunting that's a different issue.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
1) A clear notion of the task at hand (very rare in most work places)
2) An interesting problem to solve (even more rare)
3) The ability to focus. No interruptions or noise.
The third one, however is so damn rare, that if I were granted it.. I'd be most reticent to push my luck by asking for the first two. The laughter of upper management alone will certainly be loud enough to wake me from the day dream.
1. 11 pm.
2. Good headphones.
3. Good music.
Why does his trifecta have five points?
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
He completely overlooked this - in fact, I found this comment rather amusing: "...so I can take little mental breaks and sing along." Around coworkers. Whom, he assumes, have their earbuds in. They may have their earbuds in, but it might be that they are pursuing the lesser of two completely undesirable options. I used to think like he did - that I needed music in order to code. After trying a little experiment where I went without for a while, I realized how much I had been kidding myself. I am now a strong believer that there's nothing like a quiet environment for allowing one to focus on their work.
1) Inspiration and motivation. (The project is appealing with interesting and stimulating challenges.)
2) Optimism. (The project has clear and attainable goals. I look forward to completion because I think it'll be a great product.)
3) Competition and Recognition. (My project is going head to head with someone else's and or might receive recognition. I'll work faster. I'll be less likely to lose Optimism or Motivation and it'll challenge me to push beyond the comfort zone.)
Chill out. The bible doesn't say you can't have a shit and get a blow job at the same time. So if the bible isn't against it then where are you getting this high moral sense from?
The first is best in low to medium doses, anything more than that and I'm too wired to really focus. Best served green and carbonated or with equal amounts of milk and sugar. The second falls under the category of "repetitive music with few to no lyrics." The third can actually stand apart from the second because I've found that even if I'm not actually listening to anything at the time people see the headphones and (usually) give a second thought to bothering me, especially at work. Finally the deadline is a big factor because like many people I seem to produce my best code under pressure.
Of course it also helps to have tools that I don't have to fight against to get things done, time away from my coworkers (who are usually great fun, which is actually the problem), and no constant email interruptions.
God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
1. night
2. near total silence
3. no other people awake in the vicinity
I have found that these three help me to focus on my task and nothing else. No distractions, no obligations to anyone and the silent hum of my pc help me to focus on my goal, whatever it might be.
This is fully personal however and other people may find this the most displeasent way to be productive. This might not be the ideal situation for me but I feel very comfortable and it can be reached quite easily once a day.
If these conditions are fulfilled and I am devoted to my task I can get some good work done. My problem is that I need to reach a certain waypoint in my work or else I can have a sleepless night thinking about how to finish it.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
Atmosphere or equipment. In my case, I like a quiet spot, an Aeron, and a Model M keyboard. Ridiculous? Maybe, even probably. But they help me get in the zone to work much more than, say, music, which I mostly find irritating.
Well then you really don't want to hear my trifecta. It involves choking people without a sense of humor to death by ramming my cock, covered in shit, down their throat, and that's just the first part!
1) Very large glass of water (I'll lose concentration shortly after it runs out)
2) Relative quiet, not many people walking around or making phone calls.
3) My favourite coding music (psytrance or futurepop, depending on my mood)
Also important
4) Knowing I'm unlikely to be disturbed, and that I'm not being watched.
5) No imminent deadline (be that the project deadline, or the told-Ben-I'd-go-to-the-cinema-at-7 deadline).
6) Some fresh air and exercise (cycling to work, and walking round a nearby public garden/park at lunchtime).
I think most important is
0) A good sleep the night before.
I'll play along, but I don't get it. "vitamin r" + a 40oz, posicore/youth crew hxc on the stereo, and programming = coding trifecta. Can't do that every night obviously but if I can do it, I absolutely will do it, it's the best way to program... or to do anything, really. Of course, I'm failing to mention the half-dozen other conditions equally critical to the "coding zone".
I don't think any programmer can narrow down only two factors (plus coding) that comprise the nexus of programming. that number is unrealistically low and suspiciously arbitrary -- what, just cause the word "Trifecta" is a fashionable internet meme you think there ought to be a coding Trifecta? Admit it, you just like saying the word and you like being heard saying it. Some kind of nerd ego thing? You just want to fit in? You want to announce to others that you're in the know? "Hey, look here... I said Trifecta. That's THREE things... Yea, I got the 411 on that. I can count all kinds of things to THREE, for example coding focusizers, so what's up?"
Come on, people. This is why jocks think nerds deserve a fist to the face.
The game.
Couldn't you simplify that to just
Absence of boss?
If enithin kan gow rong it whil. (Murfey)
had two identical sisters.
1. A sinecure
2. "Working" from home
3. A fat paycheck
You don't get these coding though. Think an ex-politician, a diplomat, or perhaps CEO of a failed bank.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
So let me sum it up... 1) No accountability 2) Not a team player and too good to help others and 3) Not willing to interact with non-technical people.
Okay, then! Remind me never to hire you.
"Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman