The Productive Programmer

Presenter: Neal Ford (ThoughtWorks)

The Productive Programmer session was based on the book The Productive Programmer, presented by the author. Below is a quick outline of the session. I'll be honest, this session was kind of long and I may have nodded off in a couple of places.

The slides have not been posted yet; I'll try to remember to update this post when they become available.

• Mechanics

  • accelerators

    • typing is faster than navigating

      • use gui tricks to minimize mousing
        

    • multiple clipboards

    • pushd/popd

    • command line/file explorer integration

    • use shortcuts instead of menu entries

    • templates/macros

  • focus

    • ergonomics

      • get a comfortable chair

      • dual monitors

      • good keyboard/mouse

    • developers should have root

    • war rooms instead of cubicle farms

    • locus of attention: The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin

      • pop-ups/distracting dialogs

        • screen dimmers

      • internet/games

      • instant messaging/email/twitter

    • maintain concentration
      

      • turn off notifications

      • don't keep email open

      • turn off instant messaging

      • put on headphones

      • create office “quiet time”

    • the higher the level of concentration, the denser the ideas

    • focus techniques

      • search > navigation

        • replace file hierarchy navigation with search

      • rooted views

      • use virtual desktops (virtuawin)

  • Canonicality

    • define things once

  • Automation

    • obvious

      • one-command build

      • continuous integration
        

      • version control

      • documentation

    • tools

      • automated interaction

    • to automate or not

      • set a time box

      • analyze the ROI

        • time_for_task * times_repeated > time_to_automate

      • don't shave yaks
        

• Practice

  • composed method

    • divide your program into methods that perform one (and only one) identifiable task

    • strip generic code out to new methods

  • test driven development/design

    • creates consumption awareness

    • forces mocking of dependent code

  • static analysis

    • cpd – copy/paste detector

  • citizenship

    • bunch of java stuff (ZZzzZzzzzZzZzz.....)
      

  • yagni (you ain't gonna need it)

    • build what you need now, don't indulge in speculative development

    • increases software entropy

    • don't need frameworks for everything

      • Avalon is a framework for building frameworks
        

  • question authority

    • that's the way it's always been done

    • know when to break the rules

    • non-intuitivity

      • pair programming

        • produces code 15% less efficiently than two programmers working independently, but with 15% fewer defects

  • single level of abstraction principle

    • keep all code of a method at the same level of abstraction

  • polyglot programming

    • leverage existing platforms with languages targeted at specific problems

    • many different languages that compile down to JVM byte-code

    • not “resume driven development”; the right tool for the job
      

  • every nuance

    • learn all the “back alleys” of your chosen language

    • $1000 plumber: $1 dollar for closing a valve, $999 for knowing which valve to close
      

  • anti-object

    • ?? (ZzzZZzzzZZZzzzzz....)