I honestly needed to hear this today, so thank you. I'm at work trying to work out someone else's uncommented code and have just been staring at it mumbling to myself. I'm new to the position so I'm anxious my new coworkers will think I'm just dicking around... This is the validation I needed. Thanks everyone!
Say out loud to yourself, "What the hell is this?" or, "Why did they do it this way?" once in a while. Everyone around will think you know exactly what you're doing.
From what I learned in my workplace, it seems that for most people the best way to appear competent is to continuously criticize the work of your colleagues
I don't know your circumstances, but it is usually OK to just ask. Especially if the original author is around. Don't do it all the time and you'll be OK. Even can come with positive image out of it, if you ask the right questions.
Other than that, I found that the current llms like ChatGPT (and perhaps Claude) are very good at explaining code, most of the time, for some languages ;)
Hey, thanks for your concern. I'm asking tons of questions, don't worry. Unfortunately the last 3 keepers of this code are no longer around to ask, thus the staring at code.
One place I worked had a small park, so sometimes I'd go for a lap or two to think something through - the fresh air, mild exercise, change of scenery and lack of distractions wroked wonders.
I wish I understood how to use them. I have half written scraps of paper and random text in random text files. Notebooks are about the best I can do. I can't write very well on a vertical board. It is really really uncomfortable and I end up obsessing on how bad it looks over solving the problem. Sometimes drawing on my iPad instead works, but that is another place to look for things.
I do like using Markdown + Mermaid. Obsidian is a nice little note taking app once I got it configured. It just takes me forever.
They have smaller white boards you can just prop up at a nice angle on your desk. These are what I use. Bigger ones that have to hang are for scheduling because I also black hole anything more than a week away. Also the white board is just off loading my thoughts so people can't interrupt me so badly. I still use note taking apps for tracking completed thoughts or things I have to come back to.
Aside from "learning to spell hypnotized or just trusting your phone knows better than you," there are a bunch of tricks we use.
Staring at it and going over the code path
Talking to a proverbial duck
Going out for a proverbial cheeseburger
Sleeping on it
Half of these tricks force the brain to stop confirming and start seeing, which is our biggest error source. The rest of these tricks let the problem ruminate in our subconscious which is sometimes really good at solving shit.
My math teacher in high school always said "math is 90% looking" and if you didn't get the task directly: "look again" ... Funny part is, that actually worked for most of the class xD
I work in a dedicated room in my house (remote developer). During the day I don’t really need to turn the lights on—windows and a skylight. The sun sets and sometimes I really just don’t notice. My wife will come in at some point and scold me for working in the dark, claiming it’s bad for my eyes (as if staring at a screen all day isn’t already).
I actually rather enjoy that rather not-subtle marker of the passage of time and how entrancing “the zone” can be such that I fail to even notice that.
Taking a break helps a lot. I like to multitask for this reason and to not feel like wasting time. Also, important to remember to eat. There's an obvious drop in my clarity of mind right before lunch.
I had a theoretical math professor. He said something along the lines of, "Being a theoretical math professor is the best job in the world. You can lean back in your chair, put your feet on your desk and close your eyes, and no one can tell if you're working or having a nap."
I'm a carpenter, I do high end stuff for rich people with really expensive pieces of wood. I'll stare as much as I need to on the issues I have or even before starting anything. Need to think about every way it could go wrong.
Maybe "aluding" is because the solution is both eluding and alluring at the same time, so one keeps following its syren song but when you get to where you think the solution is, it's not there.
Certainly it matches the feeling I got with some of the development problems I've faced.
I don't like coding, so I became a systems administrator.
Today, I spent about three hours "coding" a script. Before I started my testing phase to see if all the code put together would work as intended, I just did a pass over the code. I literally just stared at it for a solid 20+ minutes to make sure it made sense.
I imagine any form of "real" programming is going to require a lot more staring for a lot longer just to make sure the code isn't profoundly screwed up.
Sometimes, very rare but still, I can stare at the screen for the whole day and write zero lines of code. These rare days are the most demanding and the most stressful. Any monkey can "write code", understanding the business logic of a complex application - that's a very taxing mental work.
Look IDK about math, but I know about programming: "stare at it" is bad advice. Give it a minute or two, then get up and go for a walk or go to bed. Let your subconscious stare at it instead; it's actually better at this stuff than you are.
If I'm ever staring at math, I'm absolutely not processing visual information while doing so. It's more that like, I'm staring off into space and thinking and "math on a whiteboard" just happens to be the last thing I was looking at and my face is still pointed that way
Programmers do that a lot? I always just start trying stuff in the command line until it works. It's in research though, so maybe different from what is typical developer stuff?
As a programmer we sometimes might look like we are not doing much from the outside but actually we're dead inside thank you
ptogrammer, i think you mean
Shhh don't tell my boss I'm a PTOgrammer 😎🍹
pardon his spelling.. he was hiphotized!
The p is silent.
common mistake, the t is actually silent
I honestly needed to hear this today, so thank you. I'm at work trying to work out someone else's uncommented code and have just been staring at it mumbling to myself. I'm new to the position so I'm anxious my new coworkers will think I'm just dicking around... This is the validation I needed. Thanks everyone!
Say out loud to yourself, "What the hell is this?" or, "Why did they do it this way?" once in a while. Everyone around will think you know exactly what you're doing.
@[email protected] this is good advice
I can hear the vocal inflections in this comic.
exactly. like a former boss of mine said: if they are complaining, they are working!
From what I learned in my workplace, it seems that for most people the best way to appear competent is to continuously criticize the work of your colleagues
I don't know your circumstances, but it is usually OK to just ask. Especially if the original author is around. Don't do it all the time and you'll be OK. Even can come with positive image out of it, if you ask the right questions.
Other than that, I found that the current llms like ChatGPT (and perhaps Claude) are very good at explaining code, most of the time, for some languages ;)
Hey, thanks for your concern. I'm asking tons of questions, don't worry. Unfortunately the last 3 keepers of this code are no longer around to ask, thus the staring at code.
I find for coding problems it's actually better to walk away and let it tick over in your mind.
You'll often get a shower thought type moment.
That works for pretty much anything.
Get up and do anything else for a while. School teaches us to sit at our desks and work on the problem. Stop acting like a sixth grader.
This got me fired from the daycare
You were just staring at the kids. You were supposed to be changing diapers and feeding them. Insert obvious misunderstanding here.
One place I worked had a small park, so sometimes I'd go for a lap or two to think something through - the fresh air, mild exercise, change of scenery and lack of distractions wroked wonders.
Me, staring at my code, fiddling around, retrying it over and over: "WHY WON'T YOU WORK, DAMMIT?"
Me, late at night, trying to sleep, suddenly wide awake: "Oh that's why!"
Me, the next morning, staring at my code: "...what was it again?"
Once, the answer to a problem that was stumping me came while driving in the middle of nowhere at 01:00am back from a weekend trip.
A true software developer will also raise their hands in celebration when they finally solve a problem that’s been plaguing them.
Even if you’re working from home, alone.
I often cackle maniacally when I solve something in a particularly effective way.
Mixed in with periods of
More of the latter than the former, unfortunately. But, well Boris met his demise with his hubris so perhaps imposter syndrome saves lives.
Sometimes I even stand up.
Granddads standing up, I’ve heard it all. /s
And this is why I moved to using white boards.
I wish I understood how to use them. I have half written scraps of paper and random text in random text files. Notebooks are about the best I can do. I can't write very well on a vertical board. It is really really uncomfortable and I end up obsessing on how bad it looks over solving the problem. Sometimes drawing on my iPad instead works, but that is another place to look for things.
I do like using Markdown + Mermaid. Obsidian is a nice little note taking app once I got it configured. It just takes me forever.
They have smaller white boards you can just prop up at a nice angle on your desk. These are what I use. Bigger ones that have to hang are for scheduling because I also black hole anything more than a week away. Also the white board is just off loading my thoughts so people can't interrupt me so badly. I still use note taking apps for tracking completed thoughts or things I have to come back to.
Aside from "learning to spell hypnotized or just trusting your phone knows better than you," there are a bunch of tricks we use.
Half of these tricks force the brain to stop confirming and start seeing, which is our biggest error source. The rest of these tricks let the problem ruminate in our subconscious which is sometimes really good at solving shit.
1, 3 and 4 (in that exact order) have almost always gotten things moving again. rubber ducking it just feels "forced" to me.
I talk to myself almost constantly, even when not programming. Rubber ducking is second nature to me now. Though, IDK which came first.
You can just talk to one of your more inept coworkers.
Haven't heard of the proverbial cheeseburger.. gonna stare at this phrase for a bit.
If you don't get it, go for a proverbial cheeseburger
I dunno, I don't like unnecessarily interacting with strangers. I'm gonna go sit in another room and tinker with something else for now.
My math teacher in high school always said "math is 90% looking" and if you didn't get the task directly: "look again" ... Funny part is, that actually worked for most of the class xD
I used to work in an office with 4 other developers. It was a common occurrence to have the lights go off in the room, for energy saving.
Simone would wave their arm, then go back to staring.
God bless Simone
At least they’re moving. Sometimes it goes off and nobody reacts at all.
Sometimes figuring out what you’re supposed to do is most of the project.
True, true. Working in the dark was kinda nice on those days
I work in a dedicated room in my house (remote developer). During the day I don’t really need to turn the lights on—windows and a skylight. The sun sets and sometimes I really just don’t notice. My wife will come in at some point and scold me for working in the dark, claiming it’s bad for my eyes (as if staring at a screen all day isn’t already).
I actually rather enjoy that rather not-subtle marker of the passage of time and how entrancing “the zone” can be such that I fail to even notice that.
What I do is I read over something, take a nap, and then read it over again. If I don't get it after that I'll ask someone for help.
Taking a break helps a lot. I like to multitask for this reason and to not feel like wasting time. Also, important to remember to eat. There's an obvious drop in my clarity of mind right before lunch.
The unconscious mind processes what you were doing during REM sleep, so it's really efficient way of getting things done.
First taking a nap and only then asking for help. I like this approach.
If staring at it isn't giving the results you expect, try not staring at it. Math, much like photons, functions differently when observed.
I refer to the process as "loading" and it helps so much when coding, debugging or even playing puzzle games
I had a theoretical math professor. He said something along the lines of, "Being a theoretical math professor is the best job in the world. You can lean back in your chair, put your feet on your desk and close your eyes, and no one can tell if you're working or having a nap."
Tbh a good builder/technician will do this too when faced with a complicated fix
Same thing; every action has an opposite reaction, whether it's code or physical engineering
I'm a carpenter, I do high end stuff for rich people with really expensive pieces of wood. I'll stare as much as I need to on the issues I have or even before starting anything. Need to think about every way it could go wrong.
How do you prepare for "world ends in nuclear holocaust?" Seems a bit difficult to account for.
Cup of tea
Don't ask him, he will be angry and mumbling something about "the zone".
I’ve often been accused of looking angry when I’m thinking about a problem. Of course I’m angry! How dare the solution allude me! 😡
Allude what to you?
Probably alluding to the fact that it's eluding them 🤷
Maybe "aluding" is because the solution is both eluding and alluring at the same time, so one keeps following its syren song but when you get to where you think the solution is, it's not there.
Certainly it matches the feeling I got with some of the development problems I've faced.
If I intimidate it by staring at it long enough, it'll work eventually.
I don't like coding, so I became a systems administrator.
Today, I spent about three hours "coding" a script. Before I started my testing phase to see if all the code put together would work as intended, I just did a pass over the code. I literally just stared at it for a solid 20+ minutes to make sure it made sense.
I imagine any form of "real" programming is going to require a lot more staring for a lot longer just to make sure the code isn't profoundly screwed up.
Sometimes, very rare but still, I can stare at the screen for the whole day and write zero lines of code. These rare days are the most demanding and the most stressful. Any monkey can "write code", understanding the business logic of a complex application - that's a very taxing mental work.
Damn, I can't think about something for more than a minutes or two without getting distracted... Maybe I'm the one who's broken.
That's the fun part. We're all broken in some way.
Sometimes the first, then eventually the second when you realize you did it but forgot you did it.
"Ok fine, I'm going to see who committed this atrocity,
git blame, oh crap."Wait until she walks in on him explaining the problem out loud to a rubber duck.
Meetings where you're working on a problem together are also fun. Just a bunch of people staring silently at a whiteboard.
I like to inch my diagrams closer and closer to penises until someone notices.
Sounds like Feynman’s algorithm.
Look IDK about math, but I know about programming: "stare at it" is bad advice. Give it a minute or two, then get up and go for a walk or go to bed. Let your subconscious stare at it instead; it's actually better at this stuff than you are.
If I'm ever staring at math, I'm absolutely not processing visual information while doing so. It's more that like, I'm staring off into space and thinking and "math on a whiteboard" just happens to be the last thing I was looking at and my face is still pointed that way
Programmers do that a lot? I always just start trying stuff in the command line until it works. It's in research though, so maybe different from what is typical developer stuff?