Newbie programmer

[Robdesautel]

2 minutes ago, zil said:

IF that == "4-letter words" THEN
  zil.reaction = "snarl"
ELSE
  zil.reaction = "blush"
ENDIF

As to the original question, I agree 100% with Jane - get enough sleep at the same time and for the same duration every night (even weekends), routine (as far as your wake / sleep and work schedules - the body likes routine), exercise, eat well - in other words, follow the WoW and similar scriptures. If I had to rate one as most important, it would be getting enough sleep - too many people think they can do without, but they clearly can't - if they could, they wouldn't be looking for caffeine and 5-hour energy drinks, and other artificial ways to compensate for lack of sleep; nor would they get sick as much and take as long to recover from illness.  Your body actively fights caffeine in a way that tries to make you tired, which is why you need more - it's an escalating battle between the caffeine dosage and your body's response to it.  So just don't do it.  If you're already addicted, wean yourself off it.

Alternately, find more interesting things to code.

Thanks zil. I'm not necessarily addicted to caffeine, I'll have a soft every now and then, but not like i have to have one.  I can't drink those high caffinated drinks because it feels like my blood pressure is out the roof. As far as my project, i just got hired into an awesome company and they got themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are waiting for a dev environment to make mistakes so i am stuck reading sql sp and fx all day and learning the db structure. 

[Guest MormonGator]

8 minutes ago, Robdesautel said:

  I can't drink those high caffinated drinks because it feels like my blood pressure is out the roof. 

Smart man. A lot of those energy drinks are very dangerous. 

[unixknight]

5 hours ago, Robdesautel said:

My name is Robert DeSautel and I would like to reach out to all other programmers that follow the WoW. I have recently had a career change into programming and i am having a hard time keeping eyes open without falling into coffee. Is there something else that i can drink or something to start productive?

 

Please help me I love this career field..

Java developer here.

I chew gum.  It's the same approach I take when I'm driving and feel sleepy.  I find the action of chewing gum allows me to keep consciously moving muscles I don't need for the task I'm performing, and helps me stay awake.

Also, cold water.

[zil]

17 minutes ago, Robdesautel said:

We are waiting for a dev environment to make mistakes so i am stuck reading sql sp and fx all day and learning the db structure. 

Ah, yawn work.  Gotcha.  Break your day into 50-minute intervals.  Work for 50 minutes, then get up and do anything else for 10 minutes - wander the office reading emails, get a drink of water, or whatever.  Then go back for another 50-minutes.  Your brain will find this easier to tolerate.

7 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Also, cold water.

Just don't get too much of it on the keyboard...

[Robdesautel]

1 minute ago, zil said:

Ah, yawn work.  Gotcha.  Break your day into 50-minute intervals.  Work for 50 minutes, then get up and do anything else for 10 minutes - wander the office reading emails, get a drink of water, or whatever.  Then go back for another 50-minutes.  Your brain will find this easier to tolerate.

Just don't get too much of it on the keyboard...

Yeah it's pretty mundane but gives me the boost i would need knowing the sql stuff

[Vort]

4 hours ago, Robdesautel said:

Thanks for the advice....ill try to excercise and get some essential oils then guzzle some mountain dew lol. It's great to hear from fellow programmers that have better alternatives to coffee in the work place. And to my two cents that essential oils does sound like a great idea

From personal experience, I would very heavily discourage drinking Mountain Death. If you drink it, you will get addicted to the caffeine, and it will probably make you sick, give you a constant headache, etc. It is totally not worth it.

I live in Redmond, WA, and there are probably a dozen or more developers in my ward. As far as I know, none of the active (membership-wise) developers drinks coffee. Being near Seattle and primarily at Microsoft, that says something. Coffee drinking is in no possible way synonymous with or necessary for a successful programming career, smart-alek comments notwithstanding. Eat well, take good care of yourself, get some exercise, and you will find no need at all for stimulants.

[Robdesautel]

33 minutes ago, Vort said:

From personal experience, I would very heavily discourage drinking Mountain Death. If you drink it, you will get addicted to the caffeine, and it will probably make you sick, give you a constant headache, etc. It is totally not worth it.

I live in Redmond, WA, and there are probably a dozen or more developers in my ward. As far as I know, none of the active (membership-wise) developers drinks coffee. Being near Seattle and primarily at Microsoft, that says something. Coffee drinking is in no possible way synonymous with or necessary for a successful programming career, smart-alek comments notwithstanding. Eat well, take good care of yourself, get some exercise, and you will find no need at all for stimulants.

@vort that seems to be the best advice. I thought about some healthy snacks and taking @zil advice and walking the tiresome off. Thanks for the advice

[bytebear]

I lived on Mountain Dew in college.  Now I drink Coke Zero.  But I do find that fruit in the morning is very good.  If you are doing all nighters, take cat naps.  30 minutes here and there.   You need to take breaks.  Don't skip meals, and snack on healthy stuff.  You will probably live on Coke and pizza for a while.   But you can plan ahead so you aren't just grabbing a snack from the candy machine.  Worst thing for me was a company that had free soda. 

Oh, and find a job that doesn't work you to death.  I did game programming for years, and it burned me out.  Literally I had no life for 6 months at a time.  We'd do a release in October, and then they'd just let you sleep for two weeks straight.  It was horrible.  Don't be in a toxic environment for more than a year.  Move on.  There are plenty of jobs that are less stressful even in programming.  I still code every day, but I don't work more than 8 hours a day, and almost never am called at home or on weekends.  Your management should at least be working on making things easier over time.  You also need good mentors who can review your coding style and techniques so you learn the tricks of the trade.  Work smarter not harder, which means, be lazy.  Lazy programmers find ways to make the job easier, which makes the process better.  Learn design patterns on top of syntax and logic.  Don't reinvent the wheel (unless you are learning how to make a wheel).

[Sunday21]

Programmer here! We, women in my office, hop up and down! No kidding. We have a concrete floor.

[Robdesautel]

15 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

Programmer here! We, women in my office, hop up and down! No kidding. We have a concrete floor.

As amuzing that would be in my office full of men. I don't think i would want to be noticed as 'that guy' lol. But it is a good to though. 

 

[pam]

3 hours ago, Robdesautel said:

As amuzing that would be in my office full of men. I don't think i would want to be noticed as 'that guy' lol. But it is a good to though. 

 

Oh come on...be different.  Start a new office thing.

[Blueskye2]

16 hours ago, Robdesautel said:

My name is Robert DeSautel and I would like to reach out to all other programmers that follow the WoW. I have recently had a career change into programming and i am having a hard time keeping eyes open without falling into coffee. Is there something else that i can drink or something to start productive?

 

Please help me I love this career field..

Headphones with music.

Stand. My work purchased us all desks that can be raised up and down, so sometimes I stand while working. Before that pepele were creative with empty boxes.

Keep a water bottle at your desk and drink more water.  Eat foods that contain less sugar and fats. Go for a 15 or 20 min. walk on your lunch break.

BTW I read WoW, at first read, as World of Warcraft. ?

[my two cents]

@Robdesautel - Chewing gum was mentioned but I'd caution against it.  Simply put, it gets the digestive system going and signals to the stomach to create acid to break down the food but if there isn't any food to break down you're still left with the acid = not good.  Just thought I'd let you know.

[Sunday21]

How about heading to the stairs and walking up and down a flight. Hold onto the rail.

[Jsmith85]

Not a programer but I work nights and all I can say is an old trick I was taught

 

Pour some sugar into orange juice - it will give you energy real quick and it's better then caffine. I put 4 packets of sugar into 8 oz of oj and i'm good to go.