Get Up And Walk Around moments
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Sleeps up to 20 hours a day, runs like s**t off a shovel. Sighthounds are great.
Brilliant! :-D
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Did you ever try to explain the problem to your rubber duck? I, and many others, can tell you that it works! A slightly modified variation: Write the documentation for it. Both the user/API documentation explaining how it is intended to be used, and the detailed maintenance documentation, explaining the data structures and the processing logic. Besides: Then the documentation is there, when someone asks for it! For non-programming stuff, I have been using a further slightly modified way. I really never thoroughly understood how a gyro works. How a heat pump works. How genetics and inheritance works. The chemistry of a battery ... So in my imagination, I keep alive gang of smart junior high school kids in a "Young Scientist Club" giving presentations of various stuff to their schoolmates. As I gradually learn more about a topic, I write it down as these young people's 'lecture' to their schoolmates - including the questions they receive from their audience when something is not clear. The rubber duck is a children's toy. A child needs to have things explained simply and clearly, yet in a correct manner. And you must be prepared for (sometimes shockingly) logic questions about why and how. Pretending that your rubber duck is that oh, so logic kid asking 'why' is a great help. Letting them materialize as an audience, and forcing that simple and clear explanation into a kid's presentation is mostly a way of 'formalizing' it, but for me, it has great value. This is an excellent way to force yourself to really get a thorough basic understanding, extract the fundamental ideas in a simple way, making sure that all you say (while impersonating one of the "young scientists") is correct, even if in a simple form. And the question part pinpoints what you have not yet mastered: I write down, as question from the audience, all those nasty 'sorry, I do not have a good answer to that', and then keep up my search for information on the field so that I can provide and answer. I rewrite 'lectures' all the time: If I manage to express my newly acquired understanding in simple terms, it goes into the basic presentation, but to keep the presentation at the simple level, some advanced parts must be kept as question/answer. It it definitely a goal to get as much as possible into such simple terms that they can be included in the basic presentation. This is a great way of learning, in a way that ensures that you really understand the problem completely, that you know how to bring your understanding
I've never tried explaining it to a (possibly) inanimate object. I like it. I have had real success uncovering problems by attempting to explain the problem to a friend who is not close to the issue. That can definitely work. I'll try my next problem on my poodle. On the topic of lecturing students, and getting good questions. I worked in aerospace, and often went to schools to talk to kids. Once I was talking to a group of 9 and 10 year old kids about rockets. The class smart a_s, asked me the best question. He thought he had me. "If fire is supposed to require air to burn, how can rockets burn in space?" Great question. Of course, we know they cary the oxidizer, but that was kid brains at their best. I gave him one of my models to encourage more of that kind of thinking.
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Brilliant! :-D
Software Zen:
delete this;My own dog is a sighthound cross (hence she's a lurcher). Her dad was Border collie x Whippet, her mum was a husky. So low boredom threshold, lots of speed and lots of stamina. Not a handful at all!
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I’m a 60 year old coder. I’ve been doing it since I was 20. I always knew I loved it, but I just realized I truly do it for the get-up-and-walk-around moment. That’s the moment when you fix a sneaky bug, or complete a demanding or tricky task/algorithm/approach. It’s so satisfying, that you can’t simply move on to the next thing. You have to get up and walk around to bask in the satisfaction. I’m chasing a get up and walk around worthy bug in a bit of embedded C++ at the moment. It’s a timer fringe case, or a variable the should be volatile, and it’s not. I’ll get it, and I’ll certainly need to get-up-and-walk-around once it’s dead. Has anyone else recognized the need to get-up-and-walk-around after a truly satisfying coding moment? Do you have other victory rituals?
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My own dog is a sighthound cross (hence she's a lurcher). Her dad was Border collie x Whippet, her mum was a husky. So low boredom threshold, lots of speed and lots of stamina. Not a handful at all!
Alister Morton wrote:
Her dad was Border collie x Whippet, her mum was a husky.
That would make her a great polar bear herder! :-D
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Alister Morton wrote:
Her dad was Border collie x Whippet, her mum was a husky.
That would make her a great polar bear herder! :-D
Software Zen:
delete this;Definitely has the herding instinct of the collie, most of the prey drive of the whippet and the bossiness, digging and vocalising of the husky. Never a dull moment with our Truffle.
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Definitely has the herding instinct of the collie, most of the prey drive of the whippet and the bossiness, digging and vocalising of the husky. Never a dull moment with our Truffle.
Alister Morton wrote:
Truffle
I love the name :-D. My greyhound is 'Bacchus', named for the Greek/Roman god of wine and revelry. My wife loves mythology and picked the name even before we met the dog. The couple who was fostering him told us he didn't bark, he just whined when he wanted something. Yes. He's the god of, er, whine. :rolleyes:
Software Zen:
delete this; -
I’m a 60 year old coder. I’ve been doing it since I was 20. I always knew I loved it, but I just realized I truly do it for the get-up-and-walk-around moment. That’s the moment when you fix a sneaky bug, or complete a demanding or tricky task/algorithm/approach. It’s so satisfying, that you can’t simply move on to the next thing. You have to get up and walk around to bask in the satisfaction. I’m chasing a get up and walk around worthy bug in a bit of embedded C++ at the moment. It’s a timer fringe case, or a variable the should be volatile, and it’s not. I’ll get it, and I’ll certainly need to get-up-and-walk-around once it’s dead. Has anyone else recognized the need to get-up-and-walk-around after a truly satisfying coding moment? Do you have other victory rituals?
I usually found that the get-up-and-walk-around time was during the analysis period. Get the algorithm and data in my head, then go for a walk and let it roll around in there. What am I overlooking? What assumptions have I made that need to be challenged? etc, etc. Then I had a plan of attack, and got into the debug work.
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Alister Morton wrote:
Truffle
I love the name :-D. My greyhound is 'Bacchus', named for the Greek/Roman god of wine and revelry. My wife loves mythology and picked the name even before we met the dog. The couple who was fostering him told us he didn't bark, he just whined when he wanted something. Yes. He's the god of, er, whine. :rolleyes:
Software Zen:
delete this;Haha :-D Truffle is so named because of her colour mix - mainly white with grey and almost black splodges but some red too - she's a mix of red and blue merle.
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Haha :-D Truffle is so named because of her colour mix - mainly white with grey and almost black splodges but some red too - she's a mix of red and blue merle.
Bacchus is all black, the most common color in greyhounds. He's nearly ten, so his muzzle has gotten quite gray. I tell people that he's been going so fast for so long, the color is draining toward his tail.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Bacchus is all black, the most common color in greyhounds. He's nearly ten, so his muzzle has gotten quite gray. I tell people that he's been going so fast for so long, the color is draining toward his tail.
Software Zen:
delete this;:-D
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I’m a 60 year old coder. I’ve been doing it since I was 20. I always knew I loved it, but I just realized I truly do it for the get-up-and-walk-around moment. That’s the moment when you fix a sneaky bug, or complete a demanding or tricky task/algorithm/approach. It’s so satisfying, that you can’t simply move on to the next thing. You have to get up and walk around to bask in the satisfaction. I’m chasing a get up and walk around worthy bug in a bit of embedded C++ at the moment. It’s a timer fringe case, or a variable the should be volatile, and it’s not. I’ll get it, and I’ll certainly need to get-up-and-walk-around once it’s dead. Has anyone else recognized the need to get-up-and-walk-around after a truly satisfying coding moment? Do you have other victory rituals?
My get up and walk around moments are usual during debug sessions. Drop the debug session for something completely different and behold when I return I find the bug. This also works when writing on gnarling code. BTW, I'm 74 yr old coder and I also have had those joyful moments of satisfaction.
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I’m a 60 year old coder. I’ve been doing it since I was 20. I always knew I loved it, but I just realized I truly do it for the get-up-and-walk-around moment. That’s the moment when you fix a sneaky bug, or complete a demanding or tricky task/algorithm/approach. It’s so satisfying, that you can’t simply move on to the next thing. You have to get up and walk around to bask in the satisfaction. I’m chasing a get up and walk around worthy bug in a bit of embedded C++ at the moment. It’s a timer fringe case, or a variable the should be volatile, and it’s not. I’ll get it, and I’ll certainly need to get-up-and-walk-around once it’s dead. Has anyone else recognized the need to get-up-and-walk-around after a truly satisfying coding moment? Do you have other victory rituals?
i have seen this behavior in a colleague. he worked hard for hours, maybe days. and just when he would conquer the problem, he'd get up and walk around teasing people. he was so happy. that's one of the possible "Get Up And Walk Around Moments", it doesn't mean it's you. i do have my "Get Up And Walk Around Moments", but they are much before i find a solution. seems that i'm incapable of solving a nontrivial problem right there, in front of the monitor looking at the code. so, whenever i have to think hard i get up and walk aimlessly in the office. but best results i get when walk during the break hour. it's the only time when i am mentally productive, the rest is just writing boilerplate code.
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I’m a 60 year old coder. I’ve been doing it since I was 20. I always knew I loved it, but I just realized I truly do it for the get-up-and-walk-around moment. That’s the moment when you fix a sneaky bug, or complete a demanding or tricky task/algorithm/approach. It’s so satisfying, that you can’t simply move on to the next thing. You have to get up and walk around to bask in the satisfaction. I’m chasing a get up and walk around worthy bug in a bit of embedded C++ at the moment. It’s a timer fringe case, or a variable the should be volatile, and it’s not. I’ll get it, and I’ll certainly need to get-up-and-walk-around once it’s dead. Has anyone else recognized the need to get-up-and-walk-around after a truly satisfying coding moment? Do you have other victory rituals?
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Gary Wheeler wrote:
One day he caught sight of a cat, took off running, reached the end of the cable, and did not stop.
We may be sidetracking quite a bit here, but ... My dogs, several years ago, were great teddy bears, but not exactly greyhounds ... They were St.Bernhards, 75-80 kg (and at that time, that was lightweight, for a St.Bernhard!). My first dog of course couldn't follow a cat making twists and turns, but he could get into speed down a straight street. He did, getting into considerable speed. The cat jumped into a lawn, and he followed. The lawn had an area protected by a dense fir hedgerow. The cat flew under it. My 80 St.Bernhard tried to do the same. The earth shook. It is a great wonder none of the the hedge firs were pulled up by the root. Anyone claiming that animals have no feelings, can feel no shame, have never seen my dog that day. His tail was so tightly pressed against his belly that the tip almost reached his mouth. He refused to look me in the eye for at least an hour or two, searching for corners where he could hide. I guess our laughs (we did laugh!) didn't improve matters. But after all, we were his pack, so he gradually realized that our comforting strokes were honest signs of unity and support, and he relaxed. I believe that this episode was essential to strengthen the bonds between him and us as a pack. OK, so we did laugh when it happened, but he showed his feelings to us, and we clearly signaled: Yet you are one of us! We are still accepting you, we will comfort you. Straighten up, you are a good boy!
I once had a Fox Terrier who could do 30 mph, timed and verified. He too had a sense of shame. Once went for a cat sitting in the distance and when the cat was unperturbed he ran straight past and into some bushes, fossicking around while telling me that there had been something there just now.