Zuri (he/him) ❌️👑 | 🕐 CET#ADHS #devs, I want to test a theory: How good are you at/how are your feelings towards debugging?
#amCoding #amProgramming #webDev #webDevelopment #softwareDevelopment #softwareEngineering #computerScience #neurodiversity
Strfnurfn@shaedrich Love it! It's a puzzle to solve
Raffael Jesche@shaedrich That's the fun part (combined with solving the bug) with instant hyper focus. Well, most of the times. Sometimes it takes days instead of hours and it becomes painful. But solving hard puzzles feels even more rewarding. And of course all the downsides of hyper focus apply: eating, drinking, sleeping, social contacts are left behind while my brain is in debugging/puzzle/research mode.
@raffael @earthtoneone So, does that mean, you prefer fixing bugs over implementing new features?
@shaedrich @raffael Hmm... I think my brain latches onto debugging immediately. Building something new is fun, too, but it's easy to get sidetracked or agonize over (sometimes trivial) decisions. The end result might be more satisfying, but debugging gives more immediate gratification.
@shaedrich Sorry for the delay. Had to think a bit about this topic, because I didn't touch any code for a while and I'm in the process of leaving web dev (including some FOSS projects).
I see it like @earthtoneone. For debugging I don't have to make a decision. There's a bug, I want to know how and why this happened and I start digging. A new feature needs plans, decisions, feedback from others with delays waiting for their answers and it creates new bugs.
And it heavily depends on the project/client. For my own side projects, new features are great. When I have to explain, why a free WordPress plugin is bloat, inaccessible and pricacy-invasive and why paying me many hours is the better option, the motivation drops.
@raffael @earthtoneone Interesting. This makes sense, however, my guess would have been the opposite: Developing features could allow to dive into hyperfocus as the code to be written is fairly new and can be explored, while bugs could be tough to debug as it might be hard to concentrate on them.
But this might just show that I haven't understood ADHD as good as I thought I have 😅
@shaedrich @earthtoneone Concentration is not the problem. Focusing on the right thing (normally the most important and urgent one) is complicated. Solving a bug is interesting, it gives a feeling of urgency and it is rewarding. But most of the times it could be delayed.
And understanding #ADHD... Every brain is different, different socialisation leads to different (coping) strategies. Maybe it's (undiagnosed) #AuDHD, that kicks in with some extra concentration power after ADHD decided, that this bug is the most important thing right now. And intelligence is another variable in the mix with overlapping traits like sensation seeking or motivational problems if not intrinsic.
@shaedrich @earthtoneone And to give a counter-example, that holds your argument: When my Linux is broken, normally I just want it to work. I do a quick search, hoping for a solution or a workaround. Debugging becomes painful very quickly. Probably because I don't know C or Rust etc.
But if it's a PHP, JS, HTML or CSS problem, some interesting server setup, a privacy issue or an accessibility problem, I've never thought about - then my hyper focus kicks in. So personal interest plays a big role. Probably a much bigger one than your initial question about debugging vs new feature.
@raffael @earthtoneone Yeah, I know that Linux problem too well 😅