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Is it only me who thinks that actually typing the code takes the least amount of time from all of the activities required for software engineering?

• sauldcosta 12y ago
  I think early in your career as a programmer you spend a lot of time researching, and then as you gain more experience and learn more about the languages, tools, etc. you're working with you end up spending more time writing code and less having to read S.O. answers :)
  • jadc 12y ago
    Actually, unless you are working on your own, you will find as you get more experienced, you will be spending more time on tasks other than coding, such as design, mentoring, etc...
    • sauldcosta 12y ago
      Agree 100%. I'm a co-founder on an early stage startup, so the only people I have the time to mentor right now are the other members of the team.
  • loopbit 12y ago
    I think that the parent is actually referring to design time. I find as I grow older that I program in short bursts. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about what I want to do. I scribble a couple of diagrams on paper to make sure that the image I have in my head is complete and once I'm sure of what I want to do and why, only then, I start typing. Usually, those first scribbles end up being my test cases. As for the original article, if I had to use as much gear as he does just to get by, I would really rethink my life.
  • TickleSteve 12y ago
    I've been creating software now for almost 25 years and I find that the amount I type has definitely decreased over that time. Developing good, maintainable, correctly abstracted software should need more design/thinking time than actually implementing/typing it.