Weird things you do when you're coding?

[Lost User]

Red alert! Raise shields and open hailing frequencies!

And from the clouds a mighty voice spoke:
"Smile and be happy, for it could come worse!"

And I smiled and was happy
And it came worse.

[Lost User]

Fran Porretto wrote:

rubbing my Newfoundland's ears between lines of C++,

Interesting. How do you get the poor dog's head into the monitor? I hope it's not the brute force approach...

And from the clouds a mighty voice spoke:
"Smile and be happy, for it could come worse!"

And I smiled and was happy
And it came worse.

[radioman lt]

drop to impulse :doh:

d{^__^}b - it's time to fly

[Roy from Detroit]

How's this for weird: I go into the office. :wtf: My current assignment has me working on a project alone, I could do it from a laptop at home, but I go into work because I can't concentrate at home. Maybe I should try the Simpsons trick. When I am browsing code or reading articles, I tend to use one of those hand-grip exercise things, or just twirl a pen around between my fingers of my idle hand. I also swear a lot at the computer. Damn thing. I started getting some annoyed looks from the boss's assistant in the next cube, so I now sometimes use the much quieter "flipping the bird". I am thinking of getting a web camera so the computer can see me doing it. :~

[Eaverae]

Airdrumming FTW :P

"My personality is not represented by my hometown."

[BubingaMan]

As a drummer myself, I high-five you for the twin pedal under the table. Tried it myself once, but it kept sliding away. I should build something to keep it in place, but I'm too lazy. :P

[chx101B]

yea man..I usually put my left hand in my pants...when debugging... Not fapping... :wtf: :omg:

[carlospc1970]

I work in a noisy office. When I am working on something like preparing for a meeting or planning one ( :| ) everything distracts me and I get annoyed. But when I am coding... all the noise around me disappears, magically. It must be weird for my coworkers because at those moments I completely ignore them and usually I participate in all the office gossip. :rolleyes:

[Dennis E White]

crank the tunes to match the mood of the code. I have at times sent an email out to teammates letting them know that I plan to spend the day in the land of iPod. different moods of music to match the code that I am writing. if it has been something difficult and frustrating then it's going to be some bass pounding or hard rocking music.

[BrainiacV]

Must. Have. Music. If I don't, part of my brain tries to generate some, so by putting on some music to listen to, I've freed up more of my brain for programming. I prefer instrumentals or Pink Floyd (which is almost instrumental), oh, and Supertramp's Breakfast in America[^], some of the tracks remind me of the front panel on the DEC PDP-8/I[^] that I learned to program on.

Psychosis at 10 Film at 11 Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.

[Dave Kerr]

An a funeral march when the boss says you've got to revisit a VB6 application no ones used in years ;-)

My Blog: http://www.dwmkerr.com

[SeattleC]

I guess I'm no fun at all. When I'm coding anything serious, I turn off the music, adjust my chair and monitor to a comfortable position, get a fresh cuppa, and focus intently on what I am doing. I don't move except my fingertips and my eyeballs. The world disappears, usually for about 60 minutes, after which my body demands that I stand up and stretch. Yeah, I like to turn the music up and sing along, but I can only do that when I'm doing something boring and repetitive. I gotta wonder how much of their brain some of these other commenters are actually committing to the coding process.

[kyleluce]

Unrelated but: You have it reversed (at least statistically). Left brained activities account for logical reasoning, math, coding etc. The right hemisphere (usually) accounts for artistic creativity, expression, etc . There are exceptions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralization_of_brain_function#Left_vs._right[^]

[utsacsnerd]

I usually end up having a full blown conversation with myself. Occasionally my wife or daughter passes by and ask whom I'm talking to.

[bVagadishnu]

AT one point I had my sounds set to {Homer Simpson} Error: "Doh!" Success: "Press any key to continue. Where's the any key?" :)

[Naruki 0]

He codes backwards.

Narf.

[Member 3677827]

I can't do any serious coding in I'm wearing shoes. Doesn't mater if I'm home by myself of at a client's office.

[meaningoflights]

I sometimes talk to myself (ie tell myself the solution in code) - one time I talked out loud and a colleague said "oh thats how you do it" while a manager walked past. The manager gave us a strange look as if he thought we were using mental telepathy to communicate.

[Paul M Watt]

I got it right, however, I think you chose better word that I did. Left Brain generally knows facts and linear logical processing (arithmatic), direct facts that are explicitly known, which also includes your vocabulary, and don't forget the repetitive motions, like tapping on bass pedals. Right Brain, like you said, is creativity, expression, abstract problem solving. These are some of the traits that really make programming enjoyable when you can open the flood gates and express these thoughts rather than the two halves of your brain competing for your attention. Thanks for the link.

[ravanbak]

I usually have my guitar next to me. When I need to stop typing and think, I pick it up and play until I've figured out what I need to do next.