Abril 27, 2007
Reflections on Programming
This is old (all of almost 10 years now!!!) but so accurate and informative to those who may be close to coders and don't understand. An excerpt:
People imagine that programmers don't like to talk because they
prefer machines to people. This is not completely true. Programmers don't
talk because they must not be interrupted.
This need to be uninterrupted leads to a life that is strangely
asynchronous to the one lived by other human beings. It's better to send
e-mail to a programmer than to call. It's better to leave a note on the
chair than to expect the programmer to come to a meeting. This is because
the programmer must work in mind time while the phone rings and the
meetings happen in real time. It's not just ego that prevents programmers
from working in groups - it's the synchronicity problem. Synchronizing with
other people (or their representations in telephones, buzzers and
doorbells) can only mean interrupting the thought train. Interruptions mean
bugs. You must not get off the train.
Posted by steev at Abril 27, 2007 12:11 PM
wow. yeah very nice! sometimes (as a coder) its a bummer life is so asynchronous. even food/sleep etc get in the way!
I personally don't agree with this statement. Its only valid during intense periods of development for a small team (5 or so.) Large projects with more people require constant verbal communication as the chance of error is much higher, but that is best handled by 'corridor meetings' rather than anything formal or a telephone call (the absolute worst.)
I agree to a certain extent. I always bitch when someone schedules a meeting for the middle of the day (10:00 - 15:00) or so, because it just means I have to switch trains of thought. When I am in real coding mode, anything short of 3 hour chunks are ineffective, IMHO. At least for what I do. But if I am not "in the code zone", interruptions are OK. Except phone calls. How is a phone call response to an emailed question better?
And in Germany it is custom to greet people and shake their hands in the morning. Most people are on the cluetrain and when they see me hunkered down at the computer with my headphones on, they don't bother me. But a couple of them will hover beside me, stopping just short of prying my hand off the keyboard, and absolutely not leave until I have greeted them and said good morning. Even if I am trying to delicately position that probe on the only signal that I forgot to put a test point and operate the oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer simultaneously (something that works better with 3 hands), and I'm in some awkward position, they still interrupt. Which almost always totally destroys my train of thought or wastes 5 minutes of contortions.