Not sure if anyone else has said it, but I sure will. I am the lone developer of my website, and it has been so wonderful to be able to remain in JavaScript for both front and back end development. Node also makes a fine scripting language, and the repl is where I normally go by default to practice/drill JS concepts so I won’t forget them. I’m incredibly grateful for NodeJS!
Wow. This method is so ridiculous I just might have to copy it.
Seriously though, I hadn't thought about using that time (which most people are guaranteed to have every single day, several times a day) for learning new things. I think I may start using this method for exploring things that I'd "like to learn some day" but that aren't urgent/currently important for my job. This would be a way to at least make me get started learning something genuinely new!
I have to. I definitely buy some tech books on Kindle and follow web tutorials too. I'm not against doing those things. But when I care to really understand a topic in tech, for reasons I'm not even sure I can explain, I need a real, physical textbook. Strangely enough, a lot of it has to do with my brain's need to mark important sections with a pencil (yes, I know I can highlight sections on the Kindle app too...but there's something about physically circling/underlining/drawing a star near a section with a pencil that helps me to recall it later).
One thing that’s worked for me is going old fashioned and getting my news in a daily 20-minute news video recap, not unlike the “old days” of watching the evening nightly newscast of your choice. These are often on YouTube nowadays, so you don’t even need a set schedule. I’ve done this with a Spanish language daily newscast (mainly to keep my Spanish sharp), and, unless there is something going on that requires my further investigation, I’m made aware of the big stories that any informed person should probably be aware of, and then can go about my day being productive. Only a 20 minute sacrifice. Just an idea if you feel you’ve let news improperly invade your time!
Totally agree! But oddly enough, I have this problem with all code/languages… I always write code much more easily than I read it. I can write fairly complex applications just by following the logic of what the application must do in my brain (but with ZERO cleverness). But give me the source code of even the simplest Unix command and I’ll struggle to understand the purpose of every #define, the variable naming scheme, etc., etc. I’m sure this is telling me something interesting about how my brain works but I’m not sure what!
Second this recommendation. Fun read! I know a lot of HN folks won’t be as impressed as I was, but I had no idea they wrote the first several versions of WordPerfect for DOS in assembly. To me, at least, THAT is impressive. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to start a project like that in assembly.
I have the exact same problem. Wow, I could have written almost the same post about myself (including the part about the panicking wife!) Thank you for the music suggestions. One thing I find a bit strange is that the music of Liquid Mind both helps me to sleep AND helps me to code. I find it odd that sleep-inducing music also helps my easily distracted brain to focus. But there is no doubt I have written some of my best code and have achieved a greater level of focus while listening to Liquid Mind playing (softly) in the background.
Do you have any examples of the type of work you’re talking about? I want to get into tech so bad I can’t stand it, but my education is in the humanities and while I’ve written thousands and thousands of lines of non-trivial* code in a variety of languages I taught myself, on paper, I have nothing to put on a resume (I can’t imagine anybody cares about my personal pet projects), so I’m thinking being willing to do some type of job that nobody else wants to do may be my only shot (though I’m quite possibly way off base here, as well).
* by non-trivial code I do not mean that it’s necessarily complex… just that I’ve written code to solve actual problems I’ve had and not just lab/learning exercises… I may be misusing the term “non-trivial code”, and if so I apologize.
For me, I just really love how using a different language helps me to think differently about problem-solving in general. For example, I learned enough Prolog to make a very simple expert system (that no one on Earth would have possibly found useful... but I enjoyed the project), and when I made a much more useful expert system-like chatbot (for answering medical questions) in Python, my earlier experience with Prolog absolutely informed how I approached the problem in Python.
I also thought the line about current vaccine protection against severe disease/death sounded a little more confident than the evidence seems to justify. I’m no expert in this field and would never pretend to be. But I would like to know what they base that confidence on when there’s so little data at this point.
Agreed! I use C++ for small scripts/tools and love it. Granted, I first spent some time writing a library of convenience functions like starts_with(), ends_with(), contains(), get_file_contents(), read_csv_file(), etc. that so many languages have built into their standard libraries, but to be honest, even that part was a lot of fun!
You aren’t kidding. I really enjoy SFML, so I made simplified versions of a couple of early 80s arcade classics to play around with that library a bit. Even with so much given to you with a library like SFML, it’s still hard work to make even simple games. I can’t imagine doing all this in assembly! Those were some truly impressive folks back in the day.
You’ve got that right! I taught remotely all summer long on 6mpbs down/ 0.3 up. Dreadful. Just enough upload speed for PowerPoint + my voice. I’d love for something like Starlink to work.
It’s really depressing in rural places. I had to teach online all summer with DSL 6mbps down/ 0.3mbps up. Forget uploading any video. My students never saw my face. Thankfully, the videoconferencing software I was using managed to allow me to share my PowerPoint and voice reliably enough. Otherwise, I don’t know what I would have done.
I love C++ so much, and it has brought me such joy as a hobbyist programmer, but good grief, this one aspect of it (dealing with encodings & charsets) is so depressing I just want to cry sometimes.
Yeah, my wording wasn't great, so your confusion with my post is my fault for not being clearer. I obviously can solve problems to some degree otherwise I wouldn't be able to even create the simple tools I've made to solve some problems in my work. What I guess I'm trying to say is that I don't solve them WELL or efficiently. I'll use a DS/algorithm that, sure, technically works and gets the job done but is by no means the most efficient way to do it. Someone who has the common problem-solving sense I lack would have solved the problem more efficiently, more quickly and with more attractive code. That's what I was aiming for.
I pretty much agree here. I am an example of someone who simply does not have the genes for it, so to speak. I have loved programming since I was a little boy but am horrible at it. I can learn a language's basic syntax just fine (and usually in very little time), and have written many little tools/small apps that I have personally found helpful in automating certain aspects of my life and work. So I certainly value what little bit I can do. But every time I've tried to study a serious book on data structures and algorithms, it's been a disaster. I simply lack basic problem-solving skills. I try but I'm just not good at it. I mean, I can usually come up with working code to do whatever I've ever wanted to do, and I'm certainly thankful for that since it's ok if my personal projects aren't terribly efficient. But professional programming would never be a possibility for me. I'd get laughed out of an interview b/c of the convoluted/entirely-too-complicated ways I solve problems. I just wish I had a good sense of what algorithms/data structures to use where. That would certainly help me a lot! But I'm just not sure I "have what it takes", if you know what I mean, to develop that skill.
I loved DSL! I can’t remember the specs, but I had an ancient machine lying around in about 2004, that would have been otherwise worthless, and put DSL on it just to check it out. I remember being so impressed with how productive I could be and how zippy that old machine could be with such a lightweight OS. Fond memories :)
I have never contributed to open source because I have always been so impressed with the source code I’ve seen in these projects. It intimidates me! I’m a self-taught programmer, and while I’ve certainly written thousands of lines of useful code (useful to me, in any case), I know it isn’t “correct” (as in, idiomatic or ideally what you should write). If I could ever get to the place where I trusted my own work, I’d love to contribute to open source because I do have a few projects in mind (mainly useful to folks in the humanities) that I know I can make, but I’m just too embarrassed at the low quality/ugliness of my code.
Yes! A few years back I was asked to teach a philosophy class (having done no philosophy in many years... go figure!) and this podcast was instrumental in helping me to review the basics and form in my mind a solid overview of the history of major philosophical ideas and insights. It really helped me feel more prepared to teach the course. Highly recommended!
Yeah, I know what you mean by using a small subset of C++.
To be perfectly honest (and I'm just a hobbyist who writes simple tools for myself... so I can get away with this a little easier than a professional could) but I got really frustrated when I was learning C++ and almost decided it wasn't worth it. Then I decided that I'd basically just treat C++ as C with strings, classes, and a few nifty, ready-made containers and useful algorithms. And doing this allowed me to enjoy the language quite a bit and do some very fun and useful things in it, all without becoming overwhelmed by its size/complexity. But again... this is as a hobbyist, nothing more.
"Another alternative is to treat the 25m as a minimum time in Pomodoro: if you are tired or have reached a natural break point for your task then stop. If you're in the flow continue."
This. The pomodoro technique has helped me greatly, but the time limit is really just about motivation to get started (in my case). It helps by allowing me to tell myself: "You can do this... you can do anything for 35 minutes (the time limit I prefer)."
However, it is very often the case that once the timer expires, I just turn off the alarm and remain focused on my work. Sometimes my session lasts up to an hour or more. And of course, at other times, I finish the task I wanted to work on before the timer expires because the level of focus/flow I was able to achieve enabled me to finish the task more quickly than I thought.
My story is just one, of course, but I highly recommend at least trying the pomodoro method or some variation of it, just to see if you have similar success.
Oh wow... you just described me with frightening accuracy. I’ve never seen my issue described so clearly and concisely. Basically, if there aren’t negative consequences for me not completing a task, my brain simply never gets motivated. It’s almost as if my brain is saying: “meh... you don’t really have to do this... so go play on Facebook some more”. If I could resolve this issue which has plagued me for years, it would revolutionize my life and career.
Based on my own personal experience, I have to wonder if you're not on to something here. I wear just one glove every time I go to the supermarket and my nurse friends have been quick to point out to me that gloves are completely unnecessary. But I do not wear them because I think they'll protect me. I wear them precisely because they are a reminder not to touch my face. It's a simple reminder to myself that: "oh yeah, things are different now... be extra careful, don't touch your face, keep a safe distance from other people, etc." I'd be interested in knowing how many other people think like this. Having said all this, due to the shortages, I should probably stop wearing gloves and maybe just draw a large X on my hand or something to serve as this reminder.
> The vast majority of medical professionals are not researchers, and are not trained in evaluating clinical trial data. They are notoriously poor at assessing such information.
Citation, please. This is a very strong statement.
Could not agree more. A couple of years ago I decided to learn Java (I was already aware of the 'basics' in programming from other languages... variables, loops, functions, classes, etc.) so I spent maybe a week learning the basic syntax of Java. Then I jumped right into building a (very simple) 'virtual study partner' system where you would take notes by 'teaching' your virtual study buddy certain facts about what you were studying, who could then in turn quiz you using your own notes. You could also ask your study buddy about things you had already 'taught' it to see how well you remembered them or if you just needed a quick reminder about something. A bit of a silly project, no doubt, but it really helped me learn Java, and was so much fun!
So glad to see this little gem mentioned! I have many books on C, but this is the only one I've ever read cover-to-cover. Clear and to the point, and no fluff/silliness. One of my favorite programming books ever!