"Brain"coding

[sparhawk]

I wonder if other people do this as well. I don't know how many bugs I found, just by being not on the computer and just thinking about my program. I usually do this, when I'm out for a walk with my dogs or in other situations where I have time to think about all kind of stuff, like being on the highway driving home, etc..

[Galahad/FLT]

Originally Posted by sparhawk

I wonder if other people do this as well. I don't know how many bugs I found, just by being not on the computer and just thinking about my program. I usually do this, when I'm out for a walk with my dogs or in other situations where I have time to think about all kind of stuff, like being on the highway driving home, etc..

Have solved numerous problems when driving on my own or taking the dog out for a walk,you're not alone

[rothers]

Do other people kinda emulate the hardware in their head too? I 'see' what I'm coding in my mind and how it's interacting with the hardware in slow motion, I go over bugs like this when I'm away from the machine, often it gives a fresh view. Oddly I was just recently thinking if this is how other people code.

I find it really frustrating coding for something if I don't understand how the hardware works, eg newer systems Android, IOS etc. I often spend time figuring out what's going on at a lower level before I'm comfortable with bug hunting.

[ross]

I did code debugging or made effects during my REM phase

Now I only have night dreams of when I was young, free and with a more efficient body and brain, and I relive the past .. how old I am ..

[phx]

Coding is the wrong word. I would rarely think about the actual instructions in my mind. But I'm frequently thinking about algorithms (like a scrolling engine), or specific coding problems of the day, in bed, before I fall asleep.

[sparhawk]

Originally Posted by ross

I did code debugging or made effects during my REM phase

LOL! Yeah, I also had bugfixes like this. Not so often, but it happens. Only last year I was analyzing a particular nasty bug from my work, and then I suddenly woke up at 3AM and knew the solution. I was so itching to try it that I couldn't sleep until I finally could go to office and test it.

Originally Posted by phx

Coding is the wrong word. I would rarely think about the actual instructions in my mind. But I'm frequently thinking about algorithms (like a scrolling engine), or specific coding problems of the day, in bed, before I fall asleep.

You are right. Most of the time, I'm not thinking about particular instructions, but more about design approaches and algorithms in general.

[Antiriad_UK]

It’s the shower for me. Sometimes realise been standing there for 5 mins thinking

[commodorejohn]

Yep Michael Abrash used to say that "the best optimizer is the one between your ears" - but it's a pretty good debugger as well.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by sparhawk

I wonder if other people do this as well. I don't know how many bugs I found, just by being not on the computer and just thinking about my program. I usually do this, when I'm out for a walk with my dogs or in other situations where I have time to think about all kind of stuff, like being on the highway driving home, etc..

I thought it was just me. I used to do this before I went to sleep every night.
Its a very strange thing. Glad I wasnt not going nuts. I miss them days.

[Havie]

In bed, late at night and dreaming is often where I solve programming issues!

ZZZZzzzzzz...

[roondar]

Yup. I often dream away to Amiga coding problems
Actually, I even go on some walks specifically to think about coding stuff in peace...

[Steve]

I remember Jonathan 'Joffa' Smith RIP would say to me he did his best bug fixing on the crapper.

[sparhawk]

Originally Posted by roondar

Yup. I often dream away to Amiga coding problems

So, lets hope that I gain some insights tonight.

[mcgeezer]

I do most of my serious debugging in my sleep to be fair.
I’ve solved some real corkers while driving too.

[lmimmfn]

While not programming on the Amiga i do do it full time, but yes agree with others, most of my ideas are resolved while chilling and away from the computer, gives a broader view of the overall problem than low level code perspective when looking at the code.

Some complex problems i just push them to the sub concious, let it work away and wake up in the morning with a solution, sounds mad but works (especially for complex algorithms)

[chip]

I worked as Windows programmer in the past and i agree with lmimmfn

I experienced the same thing .... i wake up in the morning with a solution

Not sure if we can call it "lateral thinking"

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by Antiriad_UK

It’s the shower for me. Sometimes realise been standing there for 5 mins thinking

Me too!

[d4rk3lf]

My friend (the programmer) told me that in some Japanese software company, there is a big Teddy Bear in the corner.

Now, you are programmer, and you have a problem.
You don't go to your superior, and bother him with questions, but you first go to Teddy Bear, explain him the problem, and only if you don't figure it out after explaining, you then go to your superior.

I think it makes perfect sense, because, people indeed, often asks the questions they know answer, but they don't bother to think.

(the other cool rule they have, is that all programmers are wearing a hat (Trucker Cap), and if they wearing it opposite, that means: "Don't disturb me, I am solving some hard problem").

[sparhawk]

Originally Posted by d4rk3lf

You don't go to your superior, and bother him with questions, but you first go to Teddy Bear, explain him the problem, and only if you don't figure it out after explaining, you then go to your superior.

I think that is something that I also learned quite some time ago. If you can't explain a problem properly, you don't understand it enough. And often you can already see the solution once you actually try to explain it to somebody else.

[roondar]

We had something similar at my last job: a small rubber duck you could balance on top of your monitor so you could explain your problem to it. However, if no rubber duck was available, one of your colleagues would also suffice as a rubber duck surrogate