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I'm not trying to be snarky, because apparently people are watching, but I'm curious who the audience is? As a coder I have almost zero interest in watching ot

I'm not trying to be snarky, because apparently people are watching, but I'm curious who the audience is? As a coder I have almost zero interest in watching other people code. I'll read through the end result, but watching somebody type it in? What's the point?

mapmap 11y ago
Just a guess: maybe it's like going to a co-working space. You aren't necessarily watching them work, they're just there in a window keeping you company while you do your work.
justinv 11y ago
I find that it's a interesting viewpoint when trying to learn to code through self-taught courses/guides. It's difficult to get a feel for what you're supposed to be doing from reading a book/blogs/whatever. So it's interesting to see how programmers actually work while coding. Do they stop and jump around? Do they consult documentation a lot? How do they comment? Those sorts of intangibles/questions that guides don't really seem to touch on.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  Part of the appeal is to see how the mind at work. Another is a dose of inspiration to get myself moving.
coley 11y ago
I never understood the appeal until I started watching Handmade Hero(https://handmadehero.org/ https://handmadehero.org/). I had always wanted to learn about C, but if you don't have an idea of your own, it can be difficult to put what you learn into practice. Casey Muratori did a great job of explaining why he was doing things certain ways and went even deeper to explain the underlying concepts. I don't see very many live broadcasts on livecoding.tv at the moment, at least none that interest me, but I think I'll be checking back somewhat frequently to see if I find something worthwhile to me.
- verystealthy 11y ago
  Great tip, thanks! I'm really enjoying watching these. Any other resources like this that you would recommend?
sethherr 11y ago
To see and learn how people work, possibly learning how to do stuff better yourself.
petercooper 11y ago
This is why I love bisqwit's videos on YouTube. He takes a middle ground between "typing it in" and pondered narration. The typing effect is sped up and faked and done at just the right speed to 'follow along' with his thought process. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYsFshbkYw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYsFshbkYw
detaro 11y ago
I've watched the occasional bits and pieces of Ludum Dare streams (48h game design/programming competition). Games are something I don't have much experience with, so it was interesting to see how they approach it, how the tools and frameworks look like. I dislike video tutorials, but seeing someone work with it made more sense to me. But I didn't watch long segments, but kept the stream open and checked every now and then what they were doing and if it was interesting watched for a while.
staunch 11y ago
> ...watching somebody type it in? Since when is the act of programming merely typing something in? The reason it's interesting is precisely because programming is a puzzle and watching another person solve a puzzle can be very edutaining.
abledon 11y ago
I think everyone is somewhere on the 'spectrum'. And each one of us has a unique way we learn best. Some people can listen to lectures in a university, go home and ace the assignment. Others can sit through 100 lectures and learn nothing, but then read an algorithm textbook chapter, ace the assignment. Some people can listen to thousands of lectures, podcasts, read hundreds of algorithm textbooks, but if they never actually program an implementation it just won't stick in their brain. I think the appeal of watching people code is for people who learn best by example, with visual/audio/story-line cues as reference for learning. Humans love story telling and if a code-caster can weave their coding with their dialogue about how they are going about their tasks, the result can be some pretty powerful learning juice for the brain. YMMV!

mapmap 11y ago

Just a guess: maybe it's like going to a co-working space. You aren't necessarily watching them work, they're just there in a window keeping you company while you do your work.

justinv 11y ago

I find that it's a interesting viewpoint when trying to learn to code through self-taught courses/guides. It's difficult to get a feel for what you're supposed to be doing from reading a book/blogs/whatever. So it's interesting to see how programmers actually work while coding. Do they stop and jump around? Do they consult documentation a lot? How do they comment? Those sorts of intangibles/questions that guides don't really seem to touch on.

hkmurakami 11y ago
Part of the appeal is to see how the mind at work. Another is a dose of inspiration to get myself moving.

coley 11y ago

I never understood the appeal until I started watching Handmade Hero(https://handmadehero.org/ https://handmadehero.org/). I had always wanted to learn about C, but if you don't have an idea of your own, it can be difficult to put what you learn into practice. Casey Muratori did a great job of explaining why he was doing things certain ways and went even deeper to explain the underlying concepts. I don't see very many live broadcasts on livecoding.tv at the moment, at least none that interest me, but I think I'll be checking back somewhat frequently to see if I find something worthwhile to me.

verystealthy 11y ago
Great tip, thanks! I'm really enjoying watching these. Any other resources like this that you would recommend?

sethherr 11y ago

To see and learn how people work, possibly learning how to do stuff better yourself.

petercooper 11y ago

This is why I love bisqwit's videos on YouTube. He takes a middle ground between "typing it in" and pondered narration. The typing effect is sped up and faked and done at just the right speed to 'follow along' with his thought process. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYsFshbkYw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYsFshbkYw

detaro 11y ago

I've watched the occasional bits and pieces of Ludum Dare streams (48h game design/programming competition). Games are something I don't have much experience with, so it was interesting to see how they approach it, how the tools and frameworks look like. I dislike video tutorials, but seeing someone work with it made more sense to me. But I didn't watch long segments, but kept the stream open and checked every now and then what they were doing and if it was interesting watched for a while.

staunch 11y ago

> ...watching somebody type it in? Since when is the act of programming merely typing something in? The reason it's interesting is precisely because programming is a puzzle and watching another person solve a puzzle can be very edutaining.

abledon 11y ago

I think everyone is somewhere on the 'spectrum'. And each one of us has a unique way we learn best. Some people can listen to lectures in a university, go home and ace the assignment. Others can sit through 100 lectures and learn nothing, but then read an algorithm textbook chapter, ace the assignment. Some people can listen to thousands of lectures, podcasts, read hundreds of algorithm textbooks, but if they never actually program an implementation it just won't stick in their brain. I think the appeal of watching people code is for people who learn best by example, with visual/audio/story-line cues as reference for learning. Humans love story telling and if a code-caster can weave their coding with their dialogue about how they are going about their tasks, the result can be some pretty powerful learning juice for the brain. YMMV!