5 ms·

I just left the office after failing to concentrate on a method that took 6 booleans as an argument and constructed a set of > 10 SQL queries, despite blasting

I just left the office after failing to concentrate on a method that took 6 booleans as an argument and constructed a set of > 10 SQL queries, despite blasting Chopin on my headphones, because there were 3 different conversations being held behind my back. My current employer has a "strict" no WFH policy. And this is the best working environment I've had. By the time I left my previous jobs I was almost clinically depressed and a big part of that was the horrible open office culture. Can't wait till the entire industry goes mostly WFH so it's easier for your average dev to get such a job.

2bitencryption 8y ago
> Can't wait till the entire industry goes mostly WFH when and why would this ever happen?
- inertiatic 8y ago
  This is my gut feeling. It's a combination of it being trendy (because people love it, and companies love to seem hip), saves companies money (one of the reasons for open office plans incidentally), and as more and more workers prefer working that way, it will be a good perk to have. Once something like this reaches critical mass (ie. after a few success stories) I feel companies will jump on it. Of course, all this because we generally, since we invented the internet, seem to avoid commuting to things we would rather spend less time on and don't require out actual physical presence. Same reason we pay our bills online, do our shopping online etc.
- Florin_Andrei 8y ago
  If it helps the bottom line, it's guaranteed to happen.
- Izkata 8y ago
  We've ended up with everyone getting a "mandatory WFH day" (not everyone takes it) because our open floor plan can't accommodate everyone in the office, and we keep hiring more people.
DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
You may want to get tested for ADD. IIUC, as we age our ability to compensate for ADD diminishes. I didn't get a diagnosis until my late 30's. Once I had the diagnosis, not only did my life's quirks make a lot more sense, but I also had a clearer idea of what I need to stay productive.
- inertiatic 8y ago
  I have quite a few related traits but I don't really believe in clear cut diagnoses for this sort of thing, and I wouldn't medicate either, so I'm not sure whether having a professional making a decision on this would be helpful. I do have my own rituals, but thank you for your suggestions, might be time to look into some more tricks.
  - DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
    Well, if you ever find yourself in a big, bureaucratic organization with decent job safety, I wonder if an ADD diagnosis could force them to make special accommodations. Also, I'm not going to try talking you into medicating. But just a data point for your consideration, based on my experiences: - The problems generally get worse when not mentally alert. - The following things help with being mentally alert: - Good sleep - Stimulents - caffeine - Vyvance - Adderall - Keeping a healthy body weight (obesity --> poor sleep) - Daily vigorous exercise - I've found Vyvance to be all upside with no downside - I can supplement with Adderall as needed, but it has downside: - Easy to hyper-focus on the wrong task - Can cause insomnia many hours later - Can make me grouchy during wear-off - Can make me seem emotionally flat to others Hope this is useful.
    - inertiatic 8y ago
      Thanks for the tips, I'll keep this going although it's very off-topic, hopefully this will get downvoted into hiding so it doesn't pollute the thread too much. I've been fit before getting a desk job and caffeine doesn't do much for me, so these are out. Sleep impacts my ability to be productive I have noticed, so I am indeed getting as much and as good quality sleep as I can while having a baby. My current rituals are, have something I enjoy for breakfast, ideally while in front of the computer doing something work related. I feel like ego depletion is a real thing for me, and I am more likely to be able to focus if I baby myself in some ways. I take very (too) frequent breaks and walk around, get coffee etc. without judging myself for slacking, and the positive attitude helps me feel good enough to really buckle down and get work done when I feel I really need to. I try to stop working for the day at a point where picking back up should be straight forward. I also started getting to work earlier in the day, before most people, so I get alone time in the morning. This works out great for me despite not being much of a morning person. Seeing as I need to use music to drown out noise, I choose agreeable classical music, nothing avant-garde or noisy, when I really need to get things done. I try to avoid music that I enjoy too much, as I tend to get sucked into it and find myself hand-picking "just 1 more" song. Or when music gets tiresome but noise is still present, something like brain.fm helps me eek out just some more attention. Finally, although it's a bit of a cheat, some autonomy in what you work on helps me immensely. I am way more likely to procrastinate if I have to do something too hard (for my current skillset, even if technically accessible) or too uninteresting. So I leave these tasks for someone else and try to pick up things that I am more likely to keep working on. All in all, at work I can manage myself fine due to the added structure and the routine around it. I have a lot more trouble getting things done outside of it.
segmondy 8y ago
The problem is not the office, but you having a method that takes 6 boolean. A method should not even take one boolean ever. A boolean simple means you need to split the method.
- inertiatic 8y ago
  That function was an atrocity but you're taking things a bit too far. There are occasions where a longer method makes things more readable. And "a method should not even take on boolean ever"? So you split that method into two methods, and then every call site needs to have a conditional check. Or you hide that under a method that checks and calls your 2 methods. That new method, takes a boolean. Oh...
  - e12e 8y ago
    Quite. 6 booleans can just be a way to represent 6 flags - it might be modeled as a state-machine - but depending on the language and code base passing in 6 booleans to a function (or procedure) might be a fine way to isolate the entry point. Now given that you have such a function, you need to be able to concentrate in order to refractor it. I've recently untangled some hairy old front-end js code that takes in parameters from an "advanced" search form in order to validate the input, and construct a proper search. Basically the same thing, but with much more than six inputs. After squinting at it for an hour and trying a few things, it boiled down to a few simple checks and a map() over the remaining parameters.
  - segmondy 8y ago
    I'm not disputing that a longer method is fine. But booleans going into a method makes it hard to tell what the method is doing. Every call needs to call explicitly what it needs. Every method needs to also tell exactly what it does. State is the enemy of understanding what code does, the deeper the state lies, the harder it is to unravel.
- trhway 8y ago
  he probably would have seen it himself if he were able to concentrate...
jonhendry18 8y ago
"Can't wait till the entire industry goes mostly WFH" They're probably more likely to start designing office buildings with 6 foot ceilings in order to squeeze more workers in without exceeding the occupant limits per floor.

2bitencryption 8y ago

> Can't wait till the entire industry goes mostly WFH when and why would this ever happen?

inertiatic 8y ago
This is my gut feeling. It's a combination of it being trendy (because people love it, and companies love to seem hip), saves companies money (one of the reasons for open office plans incidentally), and as more and more workers prefer working that way, it will be a good perk to have. Once something like this reaches critical mass (ie. after a few success stories) I feel companies will jump on it. Of course, all this because we generally, since we invented the internet, seem to avoid commuting to things we would rather spend less time on and don't require out actual physical presence. Same reason we pay our bills online, do our shopping online etc.
Florin_Andrei 8y ago
If it helps the bottom line, it's guaranteed to happen.
Izkata 8y ago
We've ended up with everyone getting a "mandatory WFH day" (not everyone takes it) because our open floor plan can't accommodate everyone in the office, and we keep hiring more people.

DoofusOfDeath 8y ago

You may want to get tested for ADD. IIUC, as we age our ability to compensate for ADD diminishes. I didn't get a diagnosis until my late 30's. Once I had the diagnosis, not only did my life's quirks make a lot more sense, but I also had a clearer idea of what I need to stay productive.

inertiatic 8y ago
I have quite a few related traits but I don't really believe in clear cut diagnoses for this sort of thing, and I wouldn't medicate either, so I'm not sure whether having a professional making a decision on this would be helpful. I do have my own rituals, but thank you for your suggestions, might be time to look into some more tricks.
- DoofusOfDeath 8y ago
  Well, if you ever find yourself in a big, bureaucratic organization with decent job safety, I wonder if an ADD diagnosis could force them to make special accommodations. Also, I'm not going to try talking you into medicating. But just a data point for your consideration, based on my experiences: - The problems generally get worse when not mentally alert. - The following things help with being mentally alert: - Good sleep - Stimulents - caffeine - Vyvance - Adderall - Keeping a healthy body weight (obesity --> poor sleep) - Daily vigorous exercise - I've found Vyvance to be all upside with no downside - I can supplement with Adderall as needed, but it has downside: - Easy to hyper-focus on the wrong task - Can cause insomnia many hours later - Can make me grouchy during wear-off - Can make me seem emotionally flat to others Hope this is useful.
  - inertiatic 8y ago
    Thanks for the tips, I'll keep this going although it's very off-topic, hopefully this will get downvoted into hiding so it doesn't pollute the thread too much. I've been fit before getting a desk job and caffeine doesn't do much for me, so these are out. Sleep impacts my ability to be productive I have noticed, so I am indeed getting as much and as good quality sleep as I can while having a baby. My current rituals are, have something I enjoy for breakfast, ideally while in front of the computer doing something work related. I feel like ego depletion is a real thing for me, and I am more likely to be able to focus if I baby myself in some ways. I take very (too) frequent breaks and walk around, get coffee etc. without judging myself for slacking, and the positive attitude helps me feel good enough to really buckle down and get work done when I feel I really need to. I try to stop working for the day at a point where picking back up should be straight forward. I also started getting to work earlier in the day, before most people, so I get alone time in the morning. This works out great for me despite not being much of a morning person. Seeing as I need to use music to drown out noise, I choose agreeable classical music, nothing avant-garde or noisy, when I really need to get things done. I try to avoid music that I enjoy too much, as I tend to get sucked into it and find myself hand-picking "just 1 more" song. Or when music gets tiresome but noise is still present, something like brain.fm helps me eek out just some more attention. Finally, although it's a bit of a cheat, some autonomy in what you work on helps me immensely. I am way more likely to procrastinate if I have to do something too hard (for my current skillset, even if technically accessible) or too uninteresting. So I leave these tasks for someone else and try to pick up things that I am more likely to keep working on. All in all, at work I can manage myself fine due to the added structure and the routine around it. I have a lot more trouble getting things done outside of it.

segmondy 8y ago

The problem is not the office, but you having a method that takes 6 boolean. A method should not even take one boolean ever. A boolean simple means you need to split the method.

inertiatic 8y ago
That function was an atrocity but you're taking things a bit too far. There are occasions where a longer method makes things more readable. And "a method should not even take on boolean ever"? So you split that method into two methods, and then every call site needs to have a conditional check. Or you hide that under a method that checks and calls your 2 methods. That new method, takes a boolean. Oh...
- e12e 8y ago
  Quite. 6 booleans can just be a way to represent 6 flags - it might be modeled as a state-machine - but depending on the language and code base passing in 6 booleans to a function (or procedure) might be a fine way to isolate the entry point. Now given that you have such a function, you need to be able to concentrate in order to refractor it. I've recently untangled some hairy old front-end js code that takes in parameters from an "advanced" search form in order to validate the input, and construct a proper search. Basically the same thing, but with much more than six inputs. After squinting at it for an hour and trying a few things, it boiled down to a few simple checks and a map() over the remaining parameters.
- segmondy 8y ago
  I'm not disputing that a longer method is fine. But booleans going into a method makes it hard to tell what the method is doing. Every call needs to call explicitly what it needs. Every method needs to also tell exactly what it does. State is the enemy of understanding what code does, the deeper the state lies, the harder it is to unravel.
trhway 8y ago
he probably would have seen it himself if he were able to concentrate...

jonhendry18 8y ago

"Can't wait till the entire industry goes mostly WFH" They're probably more likely to start designing office buildings with 6 foot ceilings in order to squeeze more workers in without exceeding the occupant limits per floor.