6 ms·

How people can code on airplanes amazes me. I have tried but the cramped space, the constant interruptions.. I never get much done.

guelo 10y ago
Agree, I sometimes have problems even fully opening my laptop.
noir-york 10y ago
It's not the constant interruptions (headphones do a good job of dealing with that), its the lack of internet access that is the showstopper - I don't have all the APIs + docs in my head.
- swaroop 10y ago
  Use https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash on Mac or the open source equivalents on other platforms.
  - noir-york 10y ago
    Thank you very much!
  - avtar 10y ago
    http://devdocs.io/offline http://devdocs.io/offline works well on Linux and Windows.
- rajivm 10y ago
  I use https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash for offline documentation for when I'm on flights. Also, WiFi has been available on more and more flights. I actually have found long flights good for solid focused coding sessions (especially when I already have thought through what I want to build). edit: woops, looks like someone submitted this at the same time. In any case, working offline also forces you to reign in your app dependencies.
  - mintplant 10y ago
    Wow, it even has Hackage support! Too bad it's OS X-only.
    - pritambaral 10y ago
      Check out Zeal for Linux. It uses the same docsets as Dash.
      - mintplant 10y ago
        Perfect - thanks!
- jahewson 10y ago
  I have all the APIs in my IDE.
incepted 10y ago
As a father of three toddlers, I can tell you that sitting in an airplane for hours is pure heaven for concentration and lack of distractions.
- jahewson 10y ago
  I love working on the plane too. Noise-cancelling headphones and a 13" MacBook Pro. I usually code for around 40% of the SF to London flight. Great opportunity for uninterrupted flow.
emehrkay 10y ago
I get some of my best work done on a plane. I flew out of LA a few months back and a family of five (mom, dad, daughter, and two young boys) had the rows behind me. They made a lot of noise and were just being kids. The dad apologized and offered to buy me a drink. I told him no need, because that activity allowed me to focus on what I was doing. I think that I added a new feature that I was mulling over during that flight. I love coding in public spaces. Life acts as a very good white noise
petercooper 10y ago
This is how I try to justify flying up front (if the price works out right). I take the extra cost and attempt to "pay it back" by how many hours of extra work I can get done (or, if an overnight flight, extra work I can do the next day after sleeping the whole way instead of feeling like a zombie).
orthecreedence 10y ago
One of the companies I started a few years back was born in the back of the highway 17 Express, a bus with cramped seats that blazes down a really windy road at 60 mph. It even has wifi (for some parts of the ride). After that, working on airplanes was easy. You just need to fight a bit for elbow room and hope you aren't seated between two obese people. If you're really lucky, the person in front of you will be too concerned with others to lean their chair back...but even if they do, it's workable. Probably helps that I'm fairly scrawny though.

guelo 10y ago

Agree, I sometimes have problems even fully opening my laptop.

noir-york 10y ago

It's not the constant interruptions (headphones do a good job of dealing with that), its the lack of internet access that is the showstopper - I don't have all the APIs + docs in my head.

swaroop 10y ago
Use https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash on Mac or the open source equivalents on other platforms.
- noir-york 10y ago
  Thank you very much!
- avtar 10y ago
  http://devdocs.io/offline http://devdocs.io/offline works well on Linux and Windows.
rajivm 10y ago
I use https://kapeli.com/dash https://kapeli.com/dash for offline documentation for when I'm on flights. Also, WiFi has been available on more and more flights. I actually have found long flights good for solid focused coding sessions (especially when I already have thought through what I want to build). edit: woops, looks like someone submitted this at the same time. In any case, working offline also forces you to reign in your app dependencies.
- mintplant 10y ago
  Wow, it even has Hackage support! Too bad it's OS X-only.
  - pritambaral 10y ago
    Check out Zeal for Linux. It uses the same docsets as Dash.
    - mintplant 10y ago
      Perfect - thanks!
jahewson 10y ago
I have all the APIs in my IDE.

incepted 10y ago

As a father of three toddlers, I can tell you that sitting in an airplane for hours is pure heaven for concentration and lack of distractions.

jahewson 10y ago
I love working on the plane too. Noise-cancelling headphones and a 13" MacBook Pro. I usually code for around 40% of the SF to London flight. Great opportunity for uninterrupted flow.

emehrkay 10y ago

I get some of my best work done on a plane. I flew out of LA a few months back and a family of five (mom, dad, daughter, and two young boys) had the rows behind me. They made a lot of noise and were just being kids. The dad apologized and offered to buy me a drink. I told him no need, because that activity allowed me to focus on what I was doing. I think that I added a new feature that I was mulling over during that flight. I love coding in public spaces. Life acts as a very good white noise

petercooper 10y ago

This is how I try to justify flying up front (if the price works out right). I take the extra cost and attempt to "pay it back" by how many hours of extra work I can get done (or, if an overnight flight, extra work I can do the next day after sleeping the whole way instead of feeling like a zombie).

orthecreedence 10y ago

One of the companies I started a few years back was born in the back of the highway 17 Express, a bus with cramped seats that blazes down a really windy road at 60 mph. It even has wifi (for some parts of the ride). After that, working on airplanes was easy. You just need to fight a bit for elbow room and hope you aren't seated between two obese people. If you're really lucky, the person in front of you will be too concerned with others to lean their chair back...but even if they do, it's workable. Probably helps that I'm fairly scrawny though.