~/talk

Fear of Programming

Talkat RubyConf 2008 · 2008-11-06..11-08· [soft-skills, career-development]
speakerdeck:ntalbott
slides:none on file

Fear shows up as the blank page, scary legacy code, the dread of writing bad code or not finishing, and even a fear of finishing; all are legitimate warning signals not decision-makers. Practical countermeasures include strangle it with tests to safely change legacy systems, prototype and throw away (four-hour hacks to learn the problem), breaking work into single failing tests, pair programming, using worst-case scenarios, and returning to passion or community support; recommended reads: The War of Art and Art and Fear.

AI-written summary · about

  1. 0:00Intro
  2. 0:50Sit Down
  3. 5:05Everyone has fears
  4. 5:50Fear of a blank page
  5. 7:05Fear of existing code
  6. 8:27Fear of not finishing
  7. 9:30Fear of burnout
  8. 12:37Fear about others
  9. 15:45Fear and pain
  10. 18:45Tools
  11. 21:17Testing
  12. 24:21Prototype
  13. 26:01Worstcase scenarios
  14. 27:51Books
  15. 29:06Pair Programming
  16. 29:41Explain
  17. 30:11Identify
  18. 30:31Write
  19. 30:51The Dark Side
  20. 31:51Satisfying
  21. 32:51Play with the problem
  22. 33:31Take a deep breath
  23. 33:56Risk management
  24. 34:31Accountability
  25. 35:16Fear Theory
  26. 36:21Neurosis
  27. 38:11Love
  28. 43:41Conclusion
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