How is computer programming different today than 20 years ago?

Re:How is computer programming different today than 20 years... by downerending on Monday January 13, 2020 @01:19PM (#22037053)

I've had a habit throughout my career of printing out small chunks of code (several pages) that were algorithmically difficult or contained significant bugs. I'd take them to the park or coffee shop and just study them, pencil check them, or just think deeply about them. For me, this is a super-power, compared to flipping around on our massive monitors.

The more recent grads I work with mock me for this. Things have indeed changed.

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Re:How is computer programming different today than 20 years... by poulsbohemian on Monday January 13, 2020 @02:29PM (#22037692)

> just think deeply about them.

This is one of the reasons I am making a career transition this year. I don't have the time to think about good solutions, just cheap, quickly thrown together ones. It's exhausting and doesn't feel like good work. Deep thinking is an under appreciated opportunity in our culture.

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Re:How is computer programming different today than 20 years... by lesservehicle on Tuesday January 14, 2020 @10:32AM (#22045657)

This is a trick that I’ve been doing since the early 2000s that I find works nearly 100% of the time. Getting the distance between yourself and the screen is liberating and being in a different setting can help spark new ideas, even if by accident.

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