3 ms·

For me it's both. You're trying to visualize the problem, its parts and how they interact, and you may write down some code for specific sub problems because it

by 50CNT 11y ago

For me it's both. You're trying to visualize the problem, its parts and how they interact, and you may write down some code for specific sub problems because it just popped into your head and you don't want to context switch. There's a limited amount of things you can keep in your head at once, and the paper is somewhat of a navigational aid and rapid access memory. Paper also offers you a lot of flexibility in regards to laying out things fast and sketching things, which computers still don't have quite down yet. If I try to layout my thoughts in emacs or photoshop a lot of my processing power is taken up by the act of using the tool ("ugh, was it M-x rect or M-x rectangular-region"/"Let me get the pen tool, and the rectangle tool, and where did the tool tray go?"). Scribbling on a pad doesn't just apply to coding though, it's a useful technique for a lot of areas that have thorny problems that exceed your local memory capacity. Just my take on the technique.

mercer 11y ago
This is good encouragement for me to try using pen and paper again. The problem is that every time I do, I get frustrated by how slow it is for me, my hands get cramped, and I miss the backspace key. But perhaps I just need to keep at it for a bit, because I do see (and have experienced, back in college) the advantages.
- 50CNT 11y ago
  The backspace key equivalent of pen and paper is crossing things out/erasing them. If there's a line of writing I don't like, I'll cross it out and start that piece over. If you want to get faster and better at sketching diagrams I'd recommend you practice some of the basic techniques that say concept artists use. Straight lines from the elbow with little wrist movement and a little practice, and you'll be drawing things in no time in no time. Unless I need an incredibly straight line, I usually forgo rulers at this point. If your handwriting has slowed down, or you're cramping, you might want to give that a little bit of practice as well. No need for the cleanest Suetterlin, but getting posture right and yourself up to speed might be worth the time investment. I've been playing around with the palmer method recently, it seems quite nice for this purpose. Then there's tools. You don't want to be writing with cheap ballpoint pens on rough paper. The lines don't come out properly, which will make you press harder, which leads to fatigue. My current favourite pens are the Uniball eye-fine which is my go to for writing, as its a very smooth disposable ink pen. I've got one of those in front of me with a Kum ergonomic grip. Fountain pens are also very nice, and an entry level Lamy, Pelikan or Pilot will serve you nicely, but they're more suited for linear writing as they may smudge. Pencils are nice for sketching, but you have to sharpen them, which is annoying. For regular use I use a Faber-Castell Grip 1345 0.5mm mechanical pencil, which is still affordable but doesn't have many of the issues that cheaper mechanical pencils suffer from (broken leads, leads going back in because of insufficient internal grip, etc.). The Faber-Castel leads are also very nice and sturdy and make decent lines even at low pressures. Paper isn't that variable, as long as you don't totally cheap out on it. I'm particular to .5cm grid paper, but there's circumstances when plain white is nicer to work on. It's a bit much of a list, but I think a lot about stationery. You don't need all of these, and if you find other tools that do the job for you, then by all means go for them, these are just my personal favourites. One pen and a block of paper is more than sufficient. But I do think coding and thinking through problems on paper is a valuable skill. One neat thing it allows you to do is to go to a different place than the one you type things at to go think deeply about problems, because it's a lot more portable than a laptop. If like me, you haven't quite figured out how pseudo-code works and still write straight up source code, it also gives you a reason to memorize reserved words which I find does make things quicker ("was it import or include?"). And finally, your IDE won't distract you by having the gumption to tell you that "hey, you aren't using this variable, you lugnut, lookie look, this import is BROKEN! Aint you got any IntelliSense in you?" when you really want to be thinking about more conceptual things and not tiny implementation details. Sometimes you do do your best work when you're away from where you do your regular work.
  - visakanv 11y ago
    Great advice, great comment. I appreciate this, thanks for sharing.
  - jwdunne 11y ago
    Great advice here. Regarding beat drawing of diagrams with lines drawn from the elbow, there is a great set of online lessons that teach this through exercises. I totally recommend it: http://drawabox.com/lesson/1 http://drawabox.com/lesson/1 I have improved my drawing ability significantly by following these lessons.
  - antod 11y ago
    > But I do think coding and thinking through problems on paper is a valuable skill. One neat thing it allows you to do is to go to a different place than the one you type things at to go think deeply about problems, because it's a lot more portable than a laptop. Drawing the problem is also useful because it focusses different parts of your brain on the problem. If the problem was easy to solve with just the more linear textual parts, you probably could just have sat down and coded it. But if that's not enough, engaging the visual and spacial parts can help you understand the solution without being able to verbalise it (ie code it) yet.
  - phyllostachys 11y ago
    The Palmer method, that is what I learned back in the mid-nineties in elementary school. I didn't know it had a proper name other than 'cursive writing'. Neat! Edit: Err wait, maybe not. It looks the same but so does the Zaner-Bloser form. Looking at some more methods, apparently I don't understand how it all works.
throwaway999888 11y ago
> because it just popped into your head and you don't want to context switch. > There's a limited amount of things you can keep in your head at once, and the paper is somewhat of a navigational aid and rapid access memory. Funny how you describe and justify operating a low-tech tool with computer-y terms, almost like you were a computer yourself.

by 50CNT 11y ago

mercer 11y ago

This is good encouragement for me to try using pen and paper again. The problem is that every time I do, I get frustrated by how slow it is for me, my hands get cramped, and I miss the backspace key. But perhaps I just need to keep at it for a bit, because I do see (and have experienced, back in college) the advantages.

50CNT 11y ago
The backspace key equivalent of pen and paper is crossing things out/erasing them. If there's a line of writing I don't like, I'll cross it out and start that piece over. If you want to get faster and better at sketching diagrams I'd recommend you practice some of the basic techniques that say concept artists use. Straight lines from the elbow with little wrist movement and a little practice, and you'll be drawing things in no time in no time. Unless I need an incredibly straight line, I usually forgo rulers at this point. If your handwriting has slowed down, or you're cramping, you might want to give that a little bit of practice as well. No need for the cleanest Suetterlin, but getting posture right and yourself up to speed might be worth the time investment. I've been playing around with the palmer method recently, it seems quite nice for this purpose. Then there's tools. You don't want to be writing with cheap ballpoint pens on rough paper. The lines don't come out properly, which will make you press harder, which leads to fatigue. My current favourite pens are the Uniball eye-fine which is my go to for writing, as its a very smooth disposable ink pen. I've got one of those in front of me with a Kum ergonomic grip. Fountain pens are also very nice, and an entry level Lamy, Pelikan or Pilot will serve you nicely, but they're more suited for linear writing as they may smudge. Pencils are nice for sketching, but you have to sharpen them, which is annoying. For regular use I use a Faber-Castell Grip 1345 0.5mm mechanical pencil, which is still affordable but doesn't have many of the issues that cheaper mechanical pencils suffer from (broken leads, leads going back in because of insufficient internal grip, etc.). The Faber-Castel leads are also very nice and sturdy and make decent lines even at low pressures. Paper isn't that variable, as long as you don't totally cheap out on it. I'm particular to .5cm grid paper, but there's circumstances when plain white is nicer to work on. It's a bit much of a list, but I think a lot about stationery. You don't need all of these, and if you find other tools that do the job for you, then by all means go for them, these are just my personal favourites. One pen and a block of paper is more than sufficient. But I do think coding and thinking through problems on paper is a valuable skill. One neat thing it allows you to do is to go to a different place than the one you type things at to go think deeply about problems, because it's a lot more portable than a laptop. If like me, you haven't quite figured out how pseudo-code works and still write straight up source code, it also gives you a reason to memorize reserved words which I find does make things quicker ("was it import or include?"). And finally, your IDE won't distract you by having the gumption to tell you that "hey, you aren't using this variable, you lugnut, lookie look, this import is BROKEN! Aint you got any IntelliSense in you?" when you really want to be thinking about more conceptual things and not tiny implementation details. Sometimes you do do your best work when you're away from where you do your regular work.
- visakanv 11y ago
  Great advice, great comment. I appreciate this, thanks for sharing.
- jwdunne 11y ago
  Great advice here. Regarding beat drawing of diagrams with lines drawn from the elbow, there is a great set of online lessons that teach this through exercises. I totally recommend it: http://drawabox.com/lesson/1 http://drawabox.com/lesson/1 I have improved my drawing ability significantly by following these lessons.
- antod 11y ago
  > But I do think coding and thinking through problems on paper is a valuable skill. One neat thing it allows you to do is to go to a different place than the one you type things at to go think deeply about problems, because it's a lot more portable than a laptop. Drawing the problem is also useful because it focusses different parts of your brain on the problem. If the problem was easy to solve with just the more linear textual parts, you probably could just have sat down and coded it. But if that's not enough, engaging the visual and spacial parts can help you understand the solution without being able to verbalise it (ie code it) yet.
- phyllostachys 11y ago
  The Palmer method, that is what I learned back in the mid-nineties in elementary school. I didn't know it had a proper name other than 'cursive writing'. Neat! Edit: Err wait, maybe not. It looks the same but so does the Zaner-Bloser form. Looking at some more methods, apparently I don't understand how it all works.

throwaway999888 11y ago

> because it just popped into your head and you don't want to context switch. > There's a limited amount of things you can keep in your head at once, and the paper is somewhat of a navigational aid and rapid access memory. Funny how you describe and justify operating a low-tech tool with computer-y terms, almost like you were a computer yourself.