Do You Drink and Code? | Hacker News Reader

Do You Drink and Code?

29 pointssuperdario47 comments

Not like drink at work, but after work.

I do that. After work I come home, relax and start coding my own projects. But while coding I open a bottle of expensive drink and I sip, little by little, usually I get buzzed. So the day after I need to revisit my code to see what I've done xD

How about you?

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For code reviews: White Wine. Gewurztraminer, chenin blanc, off-dry rieslings. You want something that's clean on the palette and not sugary sweet. Chardonnay is far too congenial in this session - you're not necessarily here to make friends.

Alternatively gin and tonic but for crap sake use a good gin.

Brainstorming: Tequila. Just try it. Margaritas if everyone is under 23.

Structure and Design: Red wine. Deep, rich, moody cabernets, old style zinfandels that roar out of the glass. This is where you pop for the expensive bottles so you do it right the first time.

There is an argument to be made for single malt scotch or 12 year old bourbon here. Either is a solid choice but avoid mixing them in the same session.

Bug Fixes: Beer. Hoppy micro-brews but avoid the high alcohol content ones. Also avoid the hazy, unfiltered fadish brews. You want to see and think straight and be sharp.

Dull, tedious refactoring 5 year old crap code: Rose. Hear me out- it's about creating a mind set here. Rose is just that - it's a mind set more than an actual drink.

Anything having to do with Mongo db: Grand Marnier, Ouzo, Pernod - something at least 80 proof with a strong flavor to compensate for the bitter taste in your mouth.

Bottoms up!

Consider upgrading to MongoDB 5, which finally offers usable schema validations. It may warrant a drink of lower proof, and maybe even avert a hangover.

I do, and find it kind of fun, it's great to avoid burnout by making your project less 'intense' because when you are slighly drunk you usually take routes that are not perfect but works which makes the project move at a steady pace. Perfection is for my sober self, who was years of practice in his craft, when I'm buzzed I am just a average programmer that wants things to work. The compiler does not allow me to drink too much too so there's that.

The coolest moments are when you get into the flow, and forget to drink, and you sober up. Those are exceptionally productive moments.

There’s something I feel is special between programming and exploring. Hanging out a bit drunk with dude friends, jumping some random fence or going off the beaten path meant adventure. We wouldn’t say no unless it was a really bad idea.

The fun part is the computer or machine does what it is programmed to do, within parameters. You can throw stuff at it, projects and complex or mundane stuff, and either it works or it doesn’t.

Sometimes it just goes plick and you never see a system react the same way ever again.

Hah, totally my mindset

No. I used to though. It was a coping mechanism for me. I made some large life changes and desire to drink has gone to zero. Now I feel better, and happier.

Without drinking?

I save fun optimization problems that usually involve a lot of time waiting for builds and tests to run for a Friday or Saturday night with a few Manhattans and a movie; it's a nice way to relax and even if you only made inconsequential optimizations you can feel good about it.

Tonight I looked over at my wife and drawled "I just optimized away 200K of bytecode. Wanna make out?" Strangely she didn't not take me up on the offer but I think she's just jealous of the Amarena cherries in my glass.

I do a bit of weed then code at home. I either get great results and find new and interesting ways to implement features, or I spend two hours building and tweaking useless bike shedding code.

Similar - I either have to have a good plan of what precisely will I do, else it’s gonna be aimless brainstorm

Occasionally. Have indeed hit a Balmer Peak.

I have as well. Once. I was a bit tipsy from an over indulged lunch followed by a strong coffee. Somehow the balance was just right and the afternoon was extremely productive.

ah yes, the Balmer Peak. I'd say it saved me from missing a deadline or 2 in my youth.

Never heard of that

https://xkcd.com/323/

DEVELOPERS

ARE THE BEST

I don’t do this anymore, but much of the best code I have ever written was done drinking. Same as much of the best StarCraft matches I ever had. Something about slowing my brain down seems to help me in certain pursuits. These days, I smoke a cigar instead.

I also find sleep deprivation to do wonderful things for creativity.

Whether or not it’s true about the origin of the quote, “write drunk, edit sober” has yielded pretty strong results in creative writing.

If you can fight through the inevitable next day and look at it a couple days later and see what you were reaching for, well, it’s an iterative process no matter the state of mind. Ever read a teenager’s break up poetry?

There’s a reason most of those books ended up in the trash (or archived from LiveJournal).

I’m not advocating these methods, but I’m also not denigrating them.

The coding equivalent. Code drunk. Debug sober. I made this as an ambigram many years ago.

Drinking an coding has never worked well for me, but a little bit of marijuana (legal for adults in my state) can help me get some good code written.

Why marijuana

Had a meeting one afternoon, after having been at the pub for lunch. This turned into doing shots...

Did the meeting and went back to put. Honestly the next day I barely even remembered it.

The next day I was told I was great in the meeting. I was asked if I could contribute like that every meeting...

Sober me hates meetings, but apparently drunk me LOVES meetings!

Ha. I haven't been told this but I feel like I am a lot better in a professional environment after a few drinks. Sober me is just so rigid and hard to engage. I guess this is true for most people though.

I do smoke weed and code, I barely drink because my allergy… smoking weed helps me increase my concentration

I've never tried weed

Nope, I don't code on any substance other than caffeine. When I drink enough to get buzzed, I usually start losing interest in that level of careful planning, and likely wind up in front of a TV or on Facebook.

I'm more likely to drink to put coding out of my mind than to go code some more.

Facebook... So you are old school

What's the hot new time toilet to drunkenly scrooll? Aside from Reddit of course.

Sometimes I have. But I find myself increasingly unproductive that way. When it comes to experimentation, it is a different story altogether - then a bit of lucubration lubrication is just what the doctor ordered. I usually make the most interesting discoveries that way.

I used to code a lot on lack of sleep. Sometimes the code was creative and other times I would forget I did, write it all again after getting some sleep then hit a duplicate name clash then start to remember that I'd already written it.

Maybe a handful of times over the last 15 years, but certainly not regularly. I would be extremely wary of making a habit of it, and at any sign of drinking being something you crave you should take a break from doing this.

I used to! It's a good time for sure.

My drinking has slowed down the past few years otherwise I still would. It adds a nice bit of levity to things - the sloppy nature of everything and 'inspired' feedback can be an adventure.

I drink just a can to celebrate when my code is working... so I never get drunk.

hahahah to celebrate

You're either a productive drunk or you aren't.

If not, don't drink.

End of.

But what if like Eddie Van Halen being a drunk is counter balanced by a $10k a month cocaine habit?

It’s a life hack, similar to covering oneself in nicotine patches like an armadillo. Whatever works for you.

Omg. Lol. Actually laughing out loud right now so had to tell you.

Can't do it. I can't focus on code unless I'm stone cold sober or with a little coffee.

If I drink and code, I usually end up reverting in the morning.

reverting :O why

Always!

Who could code being sober?

Right, totally xD

https://xkcd.com/323/

No.

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