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But what if you have CS-related hobbies as well? Like learning a new programming language or writing a software of interest? How will you manage it? I'm like yo

by py4 4y ago

But what if you have CS-related hobbies as well? Like learning a new programming language or writing a software of interest? How will you manage it? I'm like you. After 8+ hours of coding, I don't have any energy left for coding. But at the same time I also have coding-related hobbies which I never get a chance to work on, due to not having any mental energy left.

tastysandwich 4y ago
I have a few code projects. I recently had to rewrite one (due to my main data source closing their API), so I blocked out a weekend and did it then. But other than that, I only have to maintain them a few times a year. Choose technologies that don't need lots of maintenance. If you're writing a backend, avoid NodeJS. I find you end up in dependency hell very quickly and constantly need to maintain it. I wrote my stuff in Golang with zero external dependencies. I also (begrudgingly) write a lot of documentation and helper scripts because I know the next time I touch a project, I'll have forgotten how everything works, and will _not_ want to spend time going through all the code. Write a script to help you deploy, and document where you need to get the credentials from. You'll be amazed how you forget that you need to copy it up to an s3 bucket, and you'll also forget where to get the creds. It's great having productive & rewarding hobbies, but don't beat yourself up over the fact you don't want to code for 12 hours a day. I think there's this expectation that coders love coding so much that it's all we do. We're expected to have these amazing Github profiles with OSS contributions and side projects. But do sales people run lemonade stands in their spare time? No, they're out there skiing and taking photos on top of mountains (or whatever sales people do).
- py4 4y ago
  It's great having productive & rewarding hobbies, but don't beat yourself up over the fact you don't want to code for 12 hours a day. Not exactly what I was looking for but helped me feel better. Thanks!

by py4 4y ago

tastysandwich 4y ago

I have a few code projects. I recently had to rewrite one (due to my main data source closing their API), so I blocked out a weekend and did it then. But other than that, I only have to maintain them a few times a year. Choose technologies that don't need lots of maintenance. If you're writing a backend, avoid NodeJS. I find you end up in dependency hell very quickly and constantly need to maintain it. I wrote my stuff in Golang with zero external dependencies. I also (begrudgingly) write a lot of documentation and helper scripts because I know the next time I touch a project, I'll have forgotten how everything works, and will _not_ want to spend time going through all the code. Write a script to help you deploy, and document where you need to get the credentials from. You'll be amazed how you forget that you need to copy it up to an s3 bucket, and you'll also forget where to get the creds. It's great having productive & rewarding hobbies, but don't beat yourself up over the fact you don't want to code for 12 hours a day. I think there's this expectation that coders love coding so much that it's all we do. We're expected to have these amazing Github profiles with OSS contributions and side projects. But do sales people run lemonade stands in their spare time? No, they're out there skiing and taking photos on top of mountains (or whatever sales people do).

py4 4y ago
It's great having productive & rewarding hobbies, but don't beat yourself up over the fact you don't want to code for 12 hours a day. Not exactly what I was looking for but helped me feel better. Thanks!