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Why Programming Rituals Work
narramissic writes "Programmers may not think that their rituals are unusual, but if you swear that your code is less buggy if you recite it aloud or you prepare for coding by listening to certain music, don't be surprised if you get a couple sideways glances. In a recent ITworld article, Issac Kelly, Lead Developer at Servee.com, explains his routine and why it works: 'To me, programming is really the 'last mile' to getting something done. When I do the planning and specifications, I go on lots of walks, take lots of time with my wife, and really do as little work in front of the computer as possible. The more I plan (in my head, on paper, on a whiteboard) the less I program; and all of my rituals are to that end.' His ritual goes like this: 'Before sitting down to a coding session, he gets a big glass of water, takes everything off of his desk, and closes out all programs and e-mail, keeping open only his code editor. The office door is shut, and some sort of music is playing ('typically an instrumental only, like my 'Explosions in the Sky' pandora station,' says Kelly).'"
There's Slashdot. Even when I do everything else, Slashdot is the final work-preventer.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
1. Make a cup of coffee: Community New Orleans blend, one sugar, hazelnut creamer.
2. Read reddit.
3. Check social status sites: facebook, twitter, etc.
4. Read CNN.
5. Read email.
6. Catch up with coworkers.
7. Juggle a bit.
8. Put on headphones. Go to last.fm and hunt for a station that fits my current mood.
9. Check reddit again.
10. Go to lunch.
11. Read email.
12. Check reddit again.
13. Update to-do list.
14. Check icanhazcheezburger, etc.
15. Pick different last.fm station.
You *think* before you code? WEIRDO!
In all seriousness, when I worked for a bank, I would go outside with a legal pad and start drawing out the logic in terms of pictures. Away from the phone. Away from the co-workers.
At lunch one time, a coworker half jokingly said I only work 3 hours a day. My manager was there and remarked "Yeah, but he gets more done in those three hours than you do all day".
I tried to keep from smiling... however, in all seriousness, coding is 30% of programming. too many coders consider themselves programmers.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Sure, some of what the article talks about is a ritual, but the planning process isn't a ritual at all. Its a process. One that usually works pretty well, I must add. The less time you spend coding, the better your product is usually going to be. That said, knowing when to put down the whiteboard is sometimes important too.
Crikey! That's just sensible work organisation. I guess if you find something that works and always do it that way you might call it a ritual. My ritual is to get in the car and go to work every morning... that way I can do, well you know... WORK!
You should seriously consider giving your manager a raise.
"It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
Here's a couple of long out-of-fashion words; contemplation and reflection.
There is no "process" -- not change requests, not planning documents, not maintenance windows, not design documents, and for damn sure no flavor-of-the-month buzzword -- that can replace someone with a brain thinking the problem through.
The problem with this is that it exposes the MBAs for the empty suits they are. Our "business team" -- salesmen with glorified titles -- sit through every meeting bloviating while the engineers get it done. The PMP certs are the worst about it. Me and a customer engineer will put our heads together about something, and decide on a course of action. The PMPs will jump all over it and send out emails about "deliverable actions items."
One of the other engineers will mention something, and we'll realize we should take a different approach. While we're getting real work done, the PMPs will barge in demanding to know if that action items has been deliverabled yet, and if not we need to reprioritize our skill sets.
I used to try to explain it to them. We were going to do that, but then we found out this, so were doing something different. I kept getting haughty responses about how they didn't need to know the little tech stuff, they were just managing the project.
One of them went on at huge length about how you didn't have to be a doctor to be a chief of staff at a hospital.
At that point I just began to feel sorry for him. Can you imagine living your life hoping and praying that no one will ever realize that you don't have the first clue about what you're talking about?
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
he gets a big glass of water, takes everything off
I stopped reading right there.
Actually, considering his orientation
He's Asian?
I tried to keep from smiling... however, in all seriousness, coding is 30% of programming. too many coders consider themselves programmers.
A lot depends on deadlines. If you have 3 things that needs to be done and committed by tomorrow, then there's going to be a tendency towards hackery. If you've got one thing that the company wants you to work on until it's finished, then you need to be more of a thinker. Programming's all about tradeoffs, and deciding which tradeoff happens isn't always the responsibility of the coder.
Of course, most of the time management doesn't even realize that a tradeoff is being made. There's a breakdown in communication somewhere and most managers don't even realize that by pushing the deadline to be shorter they're asking for more work in the future and more bugs.
Hell is other peoples code.