Questions tagged [time-management]
87 questions
707
votes
17 answers
How to respond when you are asked for an estimate?
We, as programmers, are constantly being asked 'How long will it take'?
And you know, the situation is almost always like this:
The requirements are unclear. Nobody has done an in depth analysis of all the implications.
The new feature will…
Sergio Acosta
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540
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31 answers
Why can't the IT industry deliver large, faultless projects quickly as in other industries?
After watching National Geographic's MegaStructures series, I was surprised how fast large projects are completed. Once the preliminary work (design, specifications, etc.) is done on paper, the realization itself of huge projects takes just a few…
Arseni Mourzenko
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458
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22 answers
My customer wants me to record a video of how I develop his software product
Working as a freelancer, I often see strange requests from my customers, some of which can negatively affect my daily work¹, and others trying to set some sort of control. I usually encounter those things during preliminary negotiations, so it's…
Arseni Mourzenko
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83
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22 answers
How do developers find the time to stay on top of latest technologies?
I was a freelance web developer until circa 2004 when I started going down the management route but have decided to try to get back into development again (specifically JavaScript and HTML5 web/mobile web apps) and I really get the impression to be…
u2sonderzug
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16 answers
How to stop the development spec from changing in mid development?
Problem: It seems with almost every development effort I'm involved in, no matter how much time is spent planning prior to starting development, there is always a large amount of changes required either midway or towards the end of the project.…
David
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47
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10 answers
How to start and maintain an after-work project
I work as a full time developer. My workplace, however, is very limiting in the technologies and programming languages I can use. All of the work is done in C++.
It is clear that C++ is rapidly losing (or maybe already lost) its leading…
Sam
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46
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19 answers
Is it normal for programmer to work on multiple projects simultaneously
On a current job I have two projects to work on. First is very huge system and the second one is smaller but it also big (first project is being developed for 12 years, second for 4 years).
At first I was working only on first project and was trying…
user1449
45
votes
19 answers
What to do about "stopping point syndrome"?
I have noticed a behavior in myself that I call "stopping point syndrome"... it means I cannot stop working until I reach a "stopping point" (or I become exhausted). In other words, if I am in the zone working on getting a feature completed, I…
JoelFan
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40
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10 answers
Where do you draw the line for your perfectionism?
Perfectionism may be good and bad when programming.
When and where do you draw the line when you are problem solving?
When do you decide when a solution is overkill, too general or simply too futuristic?
Please comment if the question is unclear.
Amir Rezaei
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40
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9 answers
Should Professional Development occur on company time?
As a first-time part-time software developer at a small consulting company, I'm struggling to organise time to further my own software development knowledge - whether that's reading a book, keeping up with the popular questions on StackOverflow,…
jshu
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39
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24 answers
How do you stay focused at work?
Sometimes, the things I have to do for my job are interesting and engaging. Sometimes, they aren't. Occasionally, they really aren't.
Do you have any particular strategies or tricks for dealing with those dull stretches when your brain would…
BlairHippo
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39
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15 answers
How to code on a very tight schedule?
I'm working on a project that has very tight schedule. I don't have much time to code and test (even though I work more than 12 hours everyday, it's still delayed), and the result is very fragile. Its code is also very dilemma.
This program is used…
Anonymous
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36
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7 answers
How to make significant technical decisions given very little time
I have got 2 days for making a very serious decision about the tools and platforms that my company is going to use in order to port its WPF application to Linux / Android / iOS whatnot.
Obviously I can point to my seniors that 2 days is hardly…
Flot2011
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35
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5 answers
Am I programming too slow?
I've only been a year in the industry and I've had some problems making estimates for specific tasks. Before you close this, yes, I've already read this: How to respond when you are asked for an estimate? and that's about the same problem I'm…
Jonn
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34
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9 answers
Abstraction: The War between solving the problem and a general solution
As a programmer, I find myself in the dilemma where I want make my program as abstract and as general as possible.
Doing so usually would allow me to reuse my code and have a more general solution for a problem that might (or might not) come up…
Bryan Harrington
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