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honey the monster, codewitch wrote: Now I find myself stuck a lot of times on design decisions
also a single dev for quite some time now...
I find the best approach to design is to find a user and look at the way/order they get the information, (if they have forms follow those - but if the forms don't match the order information comes don't be afraid to adjust to the latter - they'll love that) - the design fixes itself.
as to 'pretty' I've got the artistic abilities of a blind 1 legged frog - following the info/form also helps: users appreciate familiarity and ligical/actual information flow over flowers and lava lamp effects.
OTOH for procedural/processing problems I personally found the best approach is to walk away and do something else completely different, make a sandwich, fix the bike, ride the bike, sew the hole that appeared in the crotch of my pants, mop/vacuum the floor (joy of working at home while other half works in an office)
... the [best] answer often appears out of nowhere... bit of mental case testing ... that's it
I've solved more of my toughest "problems" away from the computer than at the keyboard (to easy to keep doing quick 'try this...no, try this... no, try this... no, try that again...' round and round.
walk away ...first thing when sit back down: chicken scratch that idea before it evaporates when working in the small details.
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lopatir wrote: I find the best approach to design is to find a user and look at the way/order they get the information
Definitely when that's an option. However, these days I'm making stuff like parser generators and regular expression engines - my target is other developers!
lopatir wrote: OTOH for procedural/processing problems I personally found the best approach is to walk away and do something else completely different, make a sandwich, fix the bike, ride the bike, sew the hole that appeared in the crotch of my pants
Relatable, though I couldn't sew even at gunpoint.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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honey the monster, codewitch wrote: Relatable, though I couldn't sew even at gunpoint.
cant sew either (just fake it, round and round, try not to poke yourself too often).
another benefit of working at home is can wear (or not) your most comfortable clothes - I find my oldest (softest, long-time shaped to me) clothes the best.
But back to THAT hole: wife not happy if she comes home and my 'bits' are hanging out (despite being alone - kids all grown up and mostly gone etc.)
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i wear my most comfortable clothes all the time, but I'm basically a gutter punk so it doesn't matter.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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The last time I had a chance to work with other programmers, they told me I had to wear a tie.
I told them they needed to decide whether they needed their problem solved or needed someone with a tie, because any Joe off the street with a tie would be cheaper than me.
I guess they couldn't find a guy with a tie because about 2 weeks later they called, I wore my shorts and T shirt and got their issu fixed. In deference to them, I did wear a t-shirt with a tie pictured on it. Their programmers left me alone and I explained to them what I did afterward.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr.PhD P. E.
Comport Computing
Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
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LOL, i've done the same thing. Back when i was in my 20s I used to always wear a face full of makeup and wild hair, like i was a reject from The Cure.
People either dealt with it, or they didn't get me. I showed up to the interview that way too - made a point of it - that way everyone knew what they were getting.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
You'd probably start wanting to strangle them at about the three-week mark.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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haha you're not wrong!
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I like to have someone to bounce design ideas off but I am quite happy doing the actual work myself.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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i mean, same. Although for big projects sometimes I wish I had help, especially to check my work!
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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Teams are good for the brain and (often) good for the soul.
In my early years, I used to love working from home. Now, I enjoy the 10 minute trek to work and interacting face to face with decision makers (which occupies only about 10% of my work week). The rest of the time I'm heads down writing code. Everything I've learned outside school has been thanks to my generous and (much) smarter colleagues. And I continue to learn every day.
/ravi
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That's definitely relatable content. I like having smarter people around. The more the better. I prefer to be in a position to learn something than to always be the go-to. I've had both experiences.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I've been doing single development for two months now...
I don't miss programming with other people, but I do miss some company from time to time (I'm all alone at home).
Also, going to an office and being in another environment helps to get in the working mood.
What I don't miss are the time consuming arguments, especially those with people who think they're a lot better than they actually are.
What I do miss is the chance to learn from other developers who are actually good in what they do (although I've found that to be very rare).
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I'm doing purely my own stuff these days, so I'm alone, at home coding and yeah, I miss the company, maybe not the arguments, but I've been lucky to work with a lot of competent people.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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honey the monster, codewitch wrote: I've been lucky to work with a lot of competent people
People who use braces around their single line if-statements? 
These are the kind of arguments I don't miss!
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haha
style cop.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I'm so many lines into this project.
I've devised a piping system through a bunch of console apps that allows you to mix and match grammars and parsers and perform transforms on grammars.
it's really neat. but it's a lot of code.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I use Visual Studio's ctrl + k, ctrl + d for that, along with a power tools plugin
My code always looks the best it can, so no transforms are necessary 
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my code looks like my cat wrote it.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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When you turn it around, your cat's code looks like you wrote it, it is much more acceptable that your cat writes pretty decent code 
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fair point.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I like to follow what I call the "third idea rule".
Don't accept a design as final until you have rejected the first two attempts.
In a pinch, I might go with a second idea, but I usually have to rework it later. Sometimes, years later.
First idea: Usually a reactionary/instinctual approach.
Second idea: More workable, but with a few warts.
Third idea: Production worthy, easier to maintain, better compile time checking(CYA), etc.
Just explaining an idea to someone else will often cause you to find issues with it.
I am lucky to sit next to a super competent individual.
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that's a good idea
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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Only true if you have competent team members. I guess even those people's opinions can be worthwhile, as the example of how not to design something.
As always, it's important to understand your own skills, as well as those of others. The person you might bounce ideas off of for database design is likely not the person you'd go to with UI ideas/questions.
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I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I work alone
I prefer to be by myself
Now every morning just before breakfast
I don't want no juice or tea
Just me and good buddy Coffee
That's all I ever need
'Cause I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I work alone
I prefer to be by myself
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