Code by Heart – Write better code by imagining it first

There's no mind of an artist (by this I think author meant creative, but not logical).

You have a problem. You'll solve it using programming. Yes, there exists a problem solving methodology, and yes, it means you might put your pencil aside and think.

But it's much better to use very well written methodologies of problem solving instead of trying to come up with your mumbojumbobehappyifitworks.

Methodology is logical, it's an algorithm for problem solving that works really well on simple problems. On more complicated ones it helps you get closer to the solution but when all of the methods were tried then there's that creative jump you have to make, by either solving it after thinking (employing creativity) or inventing new methods that will bring you even closer to the solution (employing creativity, again).

It's quite easy for programmers to incorporate problem solving methodologies in their workflow because most of the time their problem can be defined in some way.

On the other hand, a painter, a musician, a writer, their problems are hardly defined if not non-existent. That's why it's hard to self-evaluate, it's hard to see if you are making any progress, and then when something successfully mainstream happens we cherish their remarkable creativity.

But since i moved from home office to a 'normal' company with a 'normal' office, this doesn't work for me anymore. Getting into the zone is impossible in such environments, at least for me and many devs i know.

I'd like something similar to soroban where coding can act as an entirely mental activity. My fascination with terse languages like J and K arise from this same ideal, being able to code only in your head.

I'd be curious to hear other people's thoughts on the desirability or feasibility of some form of algorithms or coding done entirely mentally, as I haven't discussed this with anyone to date.