HN Explorer

Ask HN: I prefer to write out my code with pen and paper. Am I wrong?

4 points by Lordarminius ↗ HN
I consider myself a fairly decent self-taught programmer (Ruby, Rails, Javascript) This has always been a pattern with me but lately I discovered that I write ruby code more and more on paper and transcribe to IDE. It works for me as I think better with pencil in hand.

I have seen someone refer to this practice as 'regressive' on HN

I wonder if this is a 'bad' habit I should unlearn. Is it something I should avoid at all cost? Or is it irrelevant ?

9 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 33.3 ms ] thread
Safety1stClyde
> I have seen someone refer to this practice as 'regressive'

Does that matter?

> Is it something I should avoid at all cost?

Really, if it is a productive method for you, why would you be concerned about this issue?

I have a question. Do you use squared paper and represent the indentation using the squares, and fixed-space using one square for each letter.

Lordarminius
Thanks. I guess I worry because when you have no authorities to guide you it is easy to adopt bad habits.

No I use plain paper, it never occurred to me to use squared; :). I might give it a try

sigjuice
No. You probably kill it during interviews that ask for handwritten code.
nickpsecurity
Whiteboard interviews. Just practice handwritten code on whiteboards on occasion, too, so muscle memory is there. :)
sigjuice
The font is just wrong, no matter how hard I practice :/
PaulHoule
It is a way to do it.

Today I really like tools like PyCharm, IntelliJ idea that are deeply interactive.

The people who taught me how to code learned how to code putting together decks of punch cards.

nickpsecurity
Funny enough is that people were mocking the concept when it was being done in the 1960's by Hansen et al. Given what they produced, maybe the critics should've thought there might be some merit to the idea.

http://brinch-hansen.net/papers/

In "The invention of concurrent programming," Hansen writes: "...Alan Perlis noticed that Regnecentralen's compiler group discussed programming problems by writing Algol 60 statements on a blackboard. This was unusual at a time when systems programs were still being written in assembly language."

So, they thought it was weird they weren't just hammering out ASM instead of high-level code. Some call you "regressive" for using pen-and-paper instead of IDE's. The prior work improved the compiler group's effectiveness at getting code correct. If you're similarly benefiting, then keep it up. I'd only say change if it's hurting your productivity in a project or professional role where you want higher productivity. If it's just fun or not fast paced, have at it.

salesguy222
I'm pretty sure Paul Lutus, the author of Apple Writer ($$$), used to handwrite code from his cottage in Oregon and mail it to Apple to be implemented

If it worked for him then surely it could work for you ^.^

oddlyaromatic
I am a spare time coder. I spend a lot of my time standing in kitchens and dishrooms, and when time allows I write pseudocode on paper- or real code if I think there's something in the detail that I might not remember the next time. But I find the best use for me is pseudocode and higher level stuff gets into the notebook, then when I get the time to sit and code, I know what I'm trying to do.