5 ms·

I spend 6 to 8 hours sitting at the computer thinking about C++. 3-4 hours then sitting in a cafe seems like a sweet deal.

wirrbel 5y ago
If I found time at work for 3-4h of concentrated, uninterrupted programming I would be happy.
- lawn 5y ago
  Even if I have time for more, around 4h of focus is my limit, and after that quality is lost very quickly.
nicoburns 5y ago
I’ve found sitting in a cafe (or going for a walk) often allows me to think more productively about code: sometimes the screen is just a distraction.
- adrianN 5y ago
  For me, most of the time the hard part is not writing the code, but understanding all the code around it so that I figure out where to get my inputs from and not break anything. I can't do that without sitting at the computer and reading the code.
Zababa 5y ago
Assuming you're talking about your job, I'm not sure this is the same as "practicing" C++ for 3-4 hours the way you would practice piano. For us programmers there's usually no difference between practice and "the real stuff" unless you consider side projects as practice but that's "outside" our job.
- BoiledCabbage 5y ago
  Unfortunately, for us as a profession we still haven't yet figured out what "practice" looks like. The closest we've done is just "more game time". The closest we've found is when learning a new tech doing a small project. But that is learning a tech and distinctly different from "practicing" the craft of programming.
  - Zababa 5y ago
    I feel like a good start would be to reflect on what we do on our job, time ourselves, see where we struggled, practice these parts. But that's still far from deliberate practice. Griding leetcode is one, but it's practice for leetcode problems.
- darkerside 5y ago
  Every line of code that you write and later delete is practice. We practice a lot.
  - Zababa 5y ago
    It is practice, but usually not "deliberate practice" in the way musician or people that talk about 10 000 hours think about practice. I'm not sure how big the difference is between practice and deliberate practice.

wirrbel 5y ago

If I found time at work for 3-4h of concentrated, uninterrupted programming I would be happy.

lawn 5y ago
Even if I have time for more, around 4h of focus is my limit, and after that quality is lost very quickly.

nicoburns 5y ago

I’ve found sitting in a cafe (or going for a walk) often allows me to think more productively about code: sometimes the screen is just a distraction.

adrianN 5y ago
For me, most of the time the hard part is not writing the code, but understanding all the code around it so that I figure out where to get my inputs from and not break anything. I can't do that without sitting at the computer and reading the code.

Zababa 5y ago

Assuming you're talking about your job, I'm not sure this is the same as "practicing" C++ for 3-4 hours the way you would practice piano. For us programmers there's usually no difference between practice and "the real stuff" unless you consider side projects as practice but that's "outside" our job.

BoiledCabbage 5y ago
Unfortunately, for us as a profession we still haven't yet figured out what "practice" looks like. The closest we've done is just "more game time". The closest we've found is when learning a new tech doing a small project. But that is learning a tech and distinctly different from "practicing" the craft of programming.
- Zababa 5y ago
  I feel like a good start would be to reflect on what we do on our job, time ourselves, see where we struggled, practice these parts. But that's still far from deliberate practice. Griding leetcode is one, but it's practice for leetcode problems.
darkerside 5y ago
Every line of code that you write and later delete is practice. We practice a lot.
- Zababa 5y ago
  It is practice, but usually not "deliberate practice" in the way musician or people that talk about 10 000 hours think about practice. I'm not sure how big the difference is between practice and deliberate practice.