The Art of Programming
Programming is an art. Ask any programmer and they will agree — it takes a lot of creativity to solve problems with a computer. Creative people have an advantage in that they are not afraid to explore new avenues of design. Their open-mindedness and readiness to accept new ideas give them the ability to see problems differently from people who tend toward the cut and dry. This section offers a few suggestions on how you can stimulate your creativity.
Don’t Start At The Computer
Unless you have a good idea about what source code to write, sitting down at the computer first thing, without thinking through some design issues, is the worst mistake you can make. If you have ever suffered from writer’s block when writing a paper for class then you can begin to understand what you will experience if you begin your project at the computer.
I recommend you forget the computer and go some place quiet and relaxing, with pen and paper, and draft a design document. It does not have to be big. Entire system designs can be sketched on the back of a napkin. The important thing is to have given some prior thought as to the design and structure of your program before you start coding.
The location you choose to relax in is important. It should be someplace where you feel really comfortable. If you like quiet spaces then seek quiet spaces; if you like to watch people walk by and think of the world, then an outdoor cafe may be the place for you. Inside, outside, at the beach, on the ski slope, wherever you prefer.
What you seek is the ability to let your mind grind away on the solution. Let your mind do the work. Writing code at the computer is a mechanical process. Formulating the solution is where real creativity is required, and is the part of the process that requires the most brainpower. Typing code is more like a drill on attention to detail.
Inspiration Strikes At The Weirdest Time
If you let your mind work on the problem it will offer its solution to you at the weirdest times. I solve most of my programming problems in my sleep. As a student I kept computers in the bedroom and would get up at all hours of the night to work on ideas that had popped into my head in a dream.
Try to have something to write on close at hand at all times. A pad of paper and pen next to the toilet comes in handy! You can also use a small tape recorder, or digital memo recorder, or your personal digital assistant. Whatever means suit your style. Just be prepared. There’s nothing worse than the sinking feeling of having had the solution come to you in the middle of the night, or in the shower, or on the drive home from work or school, and say “I will remember that and write it down later,” only to forget it and have no clue what you were thinking when you do finally get something with which to record your ideas.
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Set The Mood
When you have a good idea on how to proceed with entering source code you will want to set the proper programming mood.
Location, Location, Location
Locate your computer work area someplace that’s free from distraction. If you are single this may be easier than if you are married with children. If you live in a dorm or frat house good luck! Perhaps the computer lab is an alternative after all.
Have your own room if possible, or at least your own corner of a larger room that is recognized as a quiet zone. Noise canceling headphones might help if you find yourself in this situation.
Set rules. Let your friends and family know that when you are programming not to bother you. I know it sounds rude but when you get into the flow, which is discussed below, that is, if you ever get into the flow, you will be really upset when someone interrupts your train of thought to ask you about school lunch tomorrow or the location of the car keys. Establish the ground rules up front that say when it is a good time to disturb you when you are programming. The rule is - never!
Concept Of The Flow
Artists can really become absorbed in their work, not eating and ignoring personal hygiene for days, even weeks, at a time. Those who have experienced such periods of intense concentration and work describe it as a transcendental state where they have complete clarity of the finished product and tune out the world around them, living inside a cocoon of thought and energy.
Programmers can get into the flow. I have achieved the flow. You can achieve the flow and when you do you will crave the feeling of the flow again. It is a good feeling, one of complete and utter understanding of what you are doing and where you are going with your source code. You can do amazing amounts of programming while in the flow.
The Stages of Flow
Like sleep, there are stages to the flow.
The first stage. You sit down at the computer and adjust your keyboard and stuff around you. Take a few deep breaths to help you relax. By now you should have a good idea of how to proceed with your coding. If not you shouldn’t be sitting at the computer.
Second stage. You may find it difficult to clear your mind from the everyday thoughts that block your creativity and energy. Maybe you had a bad day at work, or a great day. Perhaps your spouse or significant other is being a complete jerk! Perhaps they’re treating you very good and you are wondering why?
Close your eyes and breathe deep and regular. Clear your mind and think of nothing. It is hard to do but you can do it with practice. When you can clear your mind and free yourself from distracting thoughts you will find yourself ready to begin coding.
Now, your mind is clear. Non-productive thoughts are tucked neatly away. You begin to program. Line by line your program takes shape. You settle in and the clarity of your purpose takes hold and propels you forward.
You don’t notice it at first, but at some point between this and the previous stage you have slipped into a deeply relaxed state and are utterly focused on the task at hand. It is like reading a book and becoming completely absorbed. Someone can call your name but you will not notice, and not respond until they either shout at you or do something to break your concentration.
You know you were in the flow, if only to a small degree, when being interrupted brings you out of this focused state and you feel agitated and have to settle in once again. If you avoid doing things like getting up from your chair for fear of breaking your concentration or losing your thought process then you are in the flow!
Be Extreme
Kent Beck, in his book “Extreme Programming Explained”, describes the joy of doing really good programming. The following programming cycle is synthesized from his extreme programming philosophy.
The Programming Cycle
Plan a little. Your project design should serve as a guide in your programming efforts. Your design should also be flexible and accommodate change, which means that as you program, you may make changes to the design.
Essentially, you will want to design to the point where you have enough of the design to allow you to begin coding. The act of coding will soon reinforce your design decisions or detect fatal flaws that you must correct if you hope to have a polished, finished project.
Code a little. Write code in small, cohesive modules. A class or function at a time is good granularity.
Test a lot. Test each class, module or function separately or in whatever grouping makes sense. You will find yourself writing little programs on the side called test cases to test the code you have written. It is a good practice to get into. A test case is nothing more than a small little program you write and execute in order to test the functionality of some component or feature you have finished coding before integrating that component or feature into your project. The objective of testing is to break your code and correct its flaws before it has a chance to break your project in ways that are hard to detect.
Integrate often. Once you have a tested module of code, be it either a function or complete set of related classes, integrate these tested components into your project regularly. The objective of regular integration is to see if the newly integrated components break any previously integrated components. If they do then remove them from the project and fix the problem. If a newly integrated component does break something you may have discovered a design flaw or a previously unnoticed dependency between components. If this is the case then the next step in the programming cycle should be performed.
Factor the design when possible. If you discover design flaws or ways to improve the design of your project you should factor the design to accommodate further development. An example of design factoring might be the migration of common elements from derived classes into the base class to take better advantage of code reuse.
Apply the programming cycle in a tight spiral fashion. You will quickly reach a point in your project where it all starts to come together, and very quickly so.
The Programming Cycle Summarized
Plan a little, code a little, test a lot, integrate often, factor the design when possible. Don’t Wait Until You Think You Are Finished Coding The Entire Project To Compile! Trying to write the entire program before compiling a single line of code is the most frequent mistake new programmers tend to make. The best advice I can offer is don’t do it! Use the programming cycle outlined above. Nothing will depress you more than seeing a million compiler errors scroll up the screen.
A Helpful Trick: Stubbing
Stubbing is a programmer’s trick you can use to speed development and avoid having to write a ton of code just to get something useful to compile. Stubbing is best illustrated by example.
Say that your project requires you to display a text-based menu of program features on the screen. The user would then choose one of the menu items and press enter, thereby invoking that menu choice. What you would really like to do is write and test the menu display and choice functions without worrying about actually performing the indicated action. You can do exactly that with stubbing.
A stubbed function is a function that exists to display a simple message to the screen saying in effect “Yep, the program works great up to this point. If it were actually implemented you’d be using this feature right now!”
Stubbing is a great way to incrementally develop your project. Stubbing will change your life!
Fix The First Compiler Error First
OK. You compile some source code and it results in a slew of compiler errors. What should you do? I recommend you stay calm, take a deep breath, and fix the first compiler error first. Not the easiest compiler error, but the first compiler error. The reason is because the first error detected by the compiler, if fatal, will generate other compiler errors. Fix the first one first and you will generally find a lot of the other errors will also be resolved. If you pick an error from the middle of the pack and fix it, you may introduce more errors into your source code! Fix the first error first!
