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Fixing bugs at 3 am

 
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Originally posted by Pauline McNamara:
Excellent points Johannes. I'd like to take up your mention of fixing bugs at 3AM.
Something that helps me a lot, but that I don't always manage to do, is to try and give up after a reasonable hour in the evening!
My tendency is to attack a nitpicked assignment as soon as I get it, which is usually at home after a full work day. It's so much fun to try to figure it out that I just keep at it... but when I get tired I get stupid, period.
Those times when I stay up too long and insist on sending in an attempt in spite of fatigue usually result in a bunch of silly spacing and / or logic errors. Arrgh.
I'm trying to maintain better "study habits", juggling various activities remain a challenge.
How do the rest of you do it?


This is something I also struggle with. I am not an "early bird" type of person. Even when my body gets up early, my mind tends to be "hazy" until around 10 am or so. Then I get my second breath around 8 pm and just keep on going. I am getting better, though, about making myself go to bed earlier if I know I have to be up early in the morning. But I still have days where I'm up until midnight even though I know I have to get up again at 4.

I am involved in several other activities besides JavaRanch, and sometimes I overcommit. I'm still learning.
 
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Great - It's very hard, terrefic and coool job Marilyn.
You deserve the Besttttttttt.
Rashid
 
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Personally I'm pretty sharp early in the morning. I do struggle to get up though. As for working late, once I start programming I can work right through till I have to go to work. Have done it from time to time. Not on one of the assignments though. My problem is staying awake when I read something technical. I'm more a do it person. I'l code & code and only occasionally look in the book when I cant get it to work. I tend to use ALL books as reference books. That's why I think I will have a big problem with SCJP.
If only I could read a book as well as you do Pauline
and spell as well as my old teacher
[This message has been edited by Johannes de Jong (edited May 15, 2001).]
 
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i am the same, johannes. i get very bored with books and end up setting them aside until i get stuck. i have recently found that i can write java code without using a book, but now i cannot remember simple code for c++ (i actually forgot how to write #include <whatever> the other day)... i guess i am making the transition!
as for staying up 'til 3am... the Navy trained me well. if i really have to get something done, i can stay up until i finish. but, with these assignments i doubt i will stay up later than midnight or 1am.
 
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Sometimes, I try to nitpick my own code while waiting for the results to see if I can catch some things myself, and redo part of the code ahead of time maybe during lunch break or before heading home. So when the bashing arrives, I'm a "bit" prepared.
 
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I got started on the late night routine in College when computer time was scarce except for late at night. You could compile projects quickly instead of waiting all day for your results. Even though my VMS days are long gone, I still like the peace and quite of the late night and early morning.
You can get so much done when no one is around to distract your concentration.

Michael
 
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I tend to loose track of time when I work on a program. I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing my creation run, so I tend to overdue it to get to that point.
On the subject of book learning, I used to enjoy tech manuals until I decided I wanted to switch to the programming side. Hands-on is much more enjoyable with programming and the Java manuals that I have looked at have been lacking in exercises so that I can learn to use the tools myself. Exercises are what I am really looking for when it comes to programming. Any suggestions outside the cattle drive?
Matthew Phillips
 
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I usually come home after work, check my mail, and if there's a response I start working on it. For some reason I find coding easier at the keyboard, and ideas come to me unbidden after a long day mulling the problem over at work with no success. Then it's 3 am and I'm a zombie the next morning. But somehow it's very satisfying and worth all of it when I solve a problem or pass to the next assignment. My family thinks I'm insane. Perhaps they're right.......
 
Johannes de Jong
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My family think I'm insane
Dont feel alone
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