Re: Allen Bauer's blog about developer productivity

Tom Corey wrote:
Ralf Mimoun wrote:

Better yet: there is no music at all if you want it that way!
[...]
I can't understand how one can develop software while there is any
noise around.

Back about 1998, a coworker refused to help people set up speakers, CD players, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, etc on their computers, even though it was his job. He claimed anyone that had sound in their cube was obviously goofing off and not working. He wasn't popular.

Now tv - that's completely different. Music is background - I hear it, but I'm not really paying attention. Soothing and relaxing. A speaking voice grabs my attention, and keeps grabbing it. I can't concentrate on reading or writing while a tv or talk radio is going.

I do my best programming work with music - as long as it's the right music. My wife calls it my "hacking tunes". Wide variety of stuff,
but the main point is all of it helps me really focus.

I have Radio Margaritaville playing across the internet about half the
time at work. I also bring in CDs on a regular basis. While I like
listening to classical music while driving, I find at work that I have
to keep the volume low enough that I miss quite a bit of the music. The
volume of rock and country seem to be steadier, so that's what I listen
to most. Far better listening to music of my choosing than someone else's phone conversation to their kids all day.

Oddly, when I'm doing something like writing a paper for school, I can't have any music playing. Must be using different parts of my
brain.

Music always helped my writing papers and doing research. It could be Jimmy Buffett, 80s rock and roll, 90s country, or a Mozart symphony, but something was always playing loud in my dorm room, and later in my office and lab. My office was the room that gave access to the roof, and was the only room on that floor. No office mates, and I could play the music as loud as I wanted. Real walls, a real door, and all the privacy I wanted. Sad to think that the best working environment I will ever have was as a lowly grad student.

--
Jon Purvis
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Austin, TX
.

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