Coding with Music

M dHatter

How many people listen to music while they program? Does it make you more productive?

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Rama Krishna Vavilala

I don't and the time when I tried it I was unproductive. SO I am still curious to know how people manage that. Because according to research brain cannot multi-task[^] when it comes to attention. Even IMs throw me off when I am doing serious coding. When coding seriously I close browser windows, close my door, turn off IM and close Outlook. On a side note, Brain rules is a pretty interesting book.

Kschuler

Depends on what I'm coding and what kind of music. If I'm coding something complicated I need either silence or music without words.

Christopher Duncan

As a musician, I can't do this because my attention immediately goes into the music and the code is left just sitting there wondering why it was abandoned. Not terribly productive. :)

Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

Nemanja Trifunovic

I sometimes listen to Iceberg Radio[^]'s Baroque Masterpieces chanel. Haven't noticed any impact on productivity, positive or negative.

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Henry Minute

I rarely listen to music whilst coding, but I do like to have the radio, tuned to a speech station, on in the background.

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Lost User

I've been listening to rain[^] lately It seems to help

ToddHileHoffer

I usually do put on music with noise canceling headphones. I play the music just loud enough to block out the noises in the office. I don't pay attention to the music but it is better than hearing phone conversations etc...

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Jim Crafton

Yes and no, I tend to get involved in the music. However I generally prefer to listen to Bach, something like the Goldberg variations.

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Jim Crafton

And here I was thinking I was just weird! Glad to have someone else who suffers from this!

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Wags

I *need* music at work: I work in an open-plan office filled noisy, distracting people. It was suggested that the developers be moved to a "quiet" (or at least quieter) area but it would isolate us from the rest of the office community. I prefer to just plug in and block out the chatter. (In the Good Old Days we had air cond' labs to escape to when we were programming - or hot. :sigh: ) I find that familiar music with a fast beat (e.g. techno) is best when I'm in the zone.

"...there's what people want to hear, there's what people want to believe, there's everything else, THEN there's the truth!" - New York D.A., The International

Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

Depends. Normally I do not have tight deadlines because I work fast so I leave the headphones off. However, when magic has to happen and I have to truly justify my keep the noise canceling headphones go on, the door gets shut, and I put on some tunes and go at it. In this mode I can pull a full 6 hours without a break. It is exhausting, however.

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Wags

Christopher Duncan wrote:

wondering why it was abandoned

You have sentient code? :-D

"...there's what people want to hear, there's what people want to believe, there's everything else, THEN there's the truth!" - New York D.A., The International

Tim Groven

In my open cube office area, I have to listen to music to be able to concentrate on the code. Usually I listen to Metal, turned up pretty loud and it helps me be in my "zone". I get the most work done this way as I won't notice the hours passing by.

Douglas Troy

What's worse is that his code often ends up here, in the forums, posting things like: NEDZ HELP! PLZ GIVE CODEZ TO FINSH ME!

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Christopher Duncan

Yes. Absolutely. That's the only explanation I can think of for why there would ever be bugs.

Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

Christopher Duncan

More like, NEDZ NEW OWNER! PLZ! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!

Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

Chris Losinger

yes of course

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Christopher Duncan

Jim, if I'm your point of reference chances are good that yes, in fact, you are weird. :-D

Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

Harvey Saayman

I can't concentrate on ANYTHING in silence, silence drives me nuts! I listen to rock, hard rock and metal when I'm coding but when I'm in the zone I prefer the musical stylings of Mr. John Petrucci and dream theater \m/

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