Hacker News Reader

Comment by dcw303 | Hacker News Reader

I commend the author on the level of detail documented in the article. It's clear that they have spent much time and effort on making an appealing stream.

And yet I still don't get live coding. I have about as much interest in streaming my programming as I have in having a coworker watching me work over my shoulder: zero.

I'd love to know what people get out of this. For me the sacrifice to flow is far too great for what benefits I perceive I could get through collaboration.

I do see the potential in social network / community building though.

View on HN

I do some live-coding in my spare time as a way to maximize focus and avoid distractions. It's the exact opposite of a tutorial or something useful for the casual observer - most of the time is me making mistakes and learning from them (a.k.a. fumbling around in the dark, reading docs, and fighting the compiler).

For that reason I also decided to go with Youtube - there's far less casual drop-ins and the people who join tend to be genuinely interested in what they're getting into, even though the traffic is lower (I experimented with Twitch for a couple weeks before going this route). Also it's easier to permanently archive.

Fwiw the topic I'm learning about is Rust + WebGL -> WebAssembly... I typically stream on Sundays but often enough, life takes over and I miss a week (this is part of what's making it really hard for me to learn - there's not enough momentum). Feel free to drop in: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGKhwtFOUlzj4VILDU0efkQ/liv...

That said - I agree 100%, I don't know why anyone does watch, it's probably super boring unless you're in the exact same boat! ;)

I think it's a good educational tool. It's like watching a cooking show and seeing how a chef goes from preparing raw ingredients to a finished product.

I think it is easy to dismiss until you've had a proper go at it

The experience for me was really engaging, and it gives you a kind of energy to keep going.

If you struggle to code outside of work, I think twitch streaming can give you the power to keep going at it without feeling burned out. Without streaming I find it is super easy to switch off and turn on some youtube video or play a game.

A good reason for live coding is transparency even beyond a GitHub repo: I tried live-streaming data science because everyone thinks it's magic, and I try to show that it isn't. (and also show that data science coding is easier than one may think)

do you have a link for the curious?

Haven't done it in months since I've been busy, but here's an example of analyzing IMDb data the correct way with R and ggplot2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_zSfoTM80

That video is also an example of unexpected issues that can only happen when livecoding.

I rolled that out into a full blog post (https://minimaxir.com/2018/07/imdb-data-analysis/), which admittingly was faster to code while not being on camera.

Once you know how to do something you think it's easy.

If you look at her projects, a lot of it is very MAKER / IOT / ARDUINO focused.

She is pretty awesome and has a significant following helping people with fun projects.

I don't think the stream would work as well if she was a C++ developer at a giant company just streaming her day job.

I've streamed some Wordpress Development I've done, and its surprising the amount of people who hop in and ask questions. Usually because they are wanting to create their own plugin for the first time, or have a specific problem that they are hoping the streamers project will give an insight on.

Anything that touches Dates and Calendars seems to get an audience really fast.

* I can never help these people, and probably shouldn't be streaming.

I agree on both fronts, a well written article but to me the notion of people observing any missed key on the keyboard would only increase the likelihood of me messing up tenfold. Props to those who livestream coding, I don't think I could.

my typing error rate goes up about 500% any time a coworker is watching me type

Question: Is it necessary to use "they" now that it's clear that she's a girl?

I thought you use "they" when gender is not clear as to avoid assuming it's a guy.

I sometimes use "they" when I feel like using a gendered pronoun would distract from the topic at hand. It's incorrect but sometimes it makes sense.

so common it's normal in Australia, I wouldn't worry about it.

Comment for people downvoting this: I don't think this comment should be downvoted, seems like a genuine question, intent on learning or understanding. If anything it's an opportunity for people or the questionee to explain or teach why they are using a specific pronoun. It's always better to approach with reasonable doubt and be less dismissive

Reply on news.ycombinator.com