Don’t Write Code In The Dark…
I may be showing my age a little bit here but I remember watching Are You Afraid Of The Dark? on Nick as a kid. It was quite a cheezy show, but hey what do you expect.
Do you know what happens to people during sensory deprivation? (A brief introduction can be found here). “Though short periods of sensory deprivation can be relaxing, extended deprivation can result in extreme anxiety, hallucinations, bizarre thoughts, depression…”
So think about what happens when you are DEPRIVED of the senses befitting a modern developer. If you are in a situation where you are the ONLY developer, then you are at a much greater risk. It could be that your employeer has cut you off from the outside world, or maybe you have cut yourself off.
You will write much better code if you don’t try to do it in the dark. Having other developers around you to bounce ideas off of is amazing, but if your in a situation where you don’t have that luxury, then you can find sources on the internet. Use a chat system if you can, use twitter, get involved in developer comunities, ask questions you don’t know, and answer questions other developers have that you know the answers to. This will allow you to build relationships with other developers who have different skill sets and ways of approaching problems.
Check out casual coworking (jelly!) , as this can be a really great way to avoid writing code in the dark, and it is something that really seems to be taking off. Look around, there may be one of these in your area, and if not, it could be a good time to start one. If your around my area, you might be suprised to know about Jonesboro Co-Working.
The days of locking yourself away in a room for weeks on end and emerging with a finished product are over, get with the program, and stop writing code in the dark!