# Environmental Effects on Programming Effectiveness



## Kreij (Apr 9, 2011)

Here's something interesting I found. A little dry but a good read if you are interested.


> As industries employ programmers to fulfill their need for custom applications and to maintain and manage ever increasing code bases and archive, there has been a increased focus upon what environmental factors affect programming performance and how those environmental factors increase or decrease the quality of the finished product.
> 
> Early on, companies packed employees into cubicles like sardines and demanded long hours from their salaried employees. This resulted in high attrition rates and a level of worker fatigue not seen since the sweat shops of the 1930s. Companies tried to deal with this problem by trying to rotate the programmers to different areas of the overall code base, but this resulted in unfinished projects, the placing of inexperienced programmers into positions of high stress and an overall reduction of programming effectiveness. It could be marginally extrapolated that this method of trying to correct the deficiency actually made the problem worse.
> 
> ...



Thoughts?


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## Zyon (Apr 9, 2011)

Fortunately, the company I'm working on doesn't force you to work long hours and instead follows the 40-hour week (8 hours per day, over 5 days) principle although occasionally I stay around half an hour longer to finish a component that I am comfortable with finishing. They even allowed lunchtime to go as long as necessary (so actual work hour is less than 8 hours), casual clothes on Friday and drinking beer in the Friday afternoon


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## Kreij (Apr 10, 2011)

Many times as programmers we are expected to perform under pressure and with expectations of quick results.
Attention to detail is *paramount* in these cases. In this case it was ~18 hours for the code junkies here at TPU.

Once again, my fellow coders, you proved ineligible to work at Kreij Softworks, Inc. 

Contest closed. Nobody won (or even noticed  ).

I warned you all about these stealth contests ...


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## oily_17 (Apr 10, 2011)

I'm deaf...I cant hear the songs


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## silkstone (Apr 10, 2011)

I think if employees are allowed to listen to music while programing it increases productivity more than any other ways mentioned in the above article.

But Alas, i do not program and so have no real first hand experience.


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## Kreij (Apr 10, 2011)

No one pondered two things ...
1) Why would Kreij post such a god-awful boring article (which I wrote myself and is completely bogus)?
2) Why would BP (a non-programmer) thank me for the post? (Yup, she was aware it was a contest)

lol ... keep an eye out, another coming soon since I didn't have to send anyone a prize this time. 

Oh and in case anyone had actually read the quoted "article", you would have seen this ...


> Roger Bahman, the senior human resource manager at Oldfeld and Patterson (one of the largest employers of programmers at the time) was quoted as saying,* “This thread is a stealth contest, post your favorite song to listen to when writing code, and a winner will be picked randomly. Don't quote this.”*


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## Kreij (Apr 10, 2011)

In case anyone was wondering, I was listening to Todd Rundgren's "Adventures in Utopia" CD, in particular the song "Last of the New Waver Riders", when I thought of having this little impromtu contest.


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## streetfighter 2 (Apr 10, 2011)

Kreij said:


> 1) Why would Kreij post such a god-awful boring article (which I wrote myself and is completely bogus)?
> 2) Why would BP (a non-programmer) thank me for the post? (Yup, she was aware it was a contest)


I actually pondered both of those questions.  I concluded that it was 2 AM and I was going to sleep. 

Bravo!


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## Kreij (Apr 10, 2011)

This one was actually easier than the last one as I posted that it was a contest right in the OP. 

Here's my take on some things on TPU.
I put these in the programming section and kind of aim it at the coders, but I've seen a lot of threads that erupt into arguments because people do not do the three basic rules ...
Read ... Comprehend ... Post.

Take the time to read what people post. Skimming the post does not cut it (especially in the case of my contests). We will all do better if people take a moment to contemplate what the poster is trying to get across and respond in an appropriate manner.

The University of Connecticut has a link on their "Reading Comprehension" page to these tips

In particular is this ...


> *Anticipate and predict.*
> Really smart readers try to anticipate the author and predict future ideas and questions. If you're right, this reinforces your understanding. If you're wrong, you make adjustments quicker



Anyway ... I'm going to keep sneeking in contest to keep the TPU members on their toes.


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## streetfighter 2 (Apr 10, 2011)

Kreij said:


> The University of Connecticut has a link on their "Reading Comprehension" page to these tips


I get that we missed it, but you don't have to insult us. 

I think the more rational problem would be how much food and beer was in my stomach when I came across that thread?  What are my motives when coming to TPU?  What behaviors are triggered when reading Kreij's posts?  Why am I on TPU instead of partying at 2 AM on Saturday?


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## Kreij (Apr 10, 2011)

streetfighter 2 said:


> I get that we missed it, but you don't have to insult us.



No insult intended. We all do this, myself included. I make these hard for a reason and it's not to belittle anyone.



> I think the more rational problem would be how much food and *beer *was in my stomach when I came across that thread?



Most appropriate word bolded. lol



> What are my motives when coming to TPU?



To learn something new, help others and perhaps find Kreij's stealth contests?



> What behaviors are triggered when reading Kreij's posts?



Fighting off a comatose reaction? 


> Why am I on TPU instead of partying at 2 AM on Saturday?


Only you can answer that honestly. rofl


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