Whatever your job is, there are possibly some things that you hate while doing it. If you happen to be an electrician, spilling water on a circuit might be one of them. The exact same thing happens to programmers as well. The only possible difference between them and any other people is that they over react a bit.
There can be lots of frustrating things, but there is definately a top 10 on the things that makes programmers go nuts. Some of you may disagree with some points and others would most probably want to add more to the list (well, it is an experience related matter – a bad experience one).
Could it get any worse than that ?
10. Mathematic or Physics Formulas
This could actually not be very frustrating to some people and this is why it only occupies place 10 of the list. However, to the casual programmer, getting involved with mathematics – or even worse – physics formulas is really a pain in the * you know where *.
9. Leaving The House When Important Findings Come Up
Programmers are social creatures as well (hopefully). Real life means going out, socializing, meeting new people. While this is most times great, when something really important comes up, whenever we have almost discovered that little piece of the puzzle that will do the job, we would have preferred staying at home.
8. Debugging
We have to be prepared to do it. Unexpected errors come up all the time. Debugging can certainly be very frustrating, especially when the source code or debug symbols are not present. To make it even worse, add up the fact that it has to be done on linux and you’re good to go on the 8th most frustrating thing amongst programmers.
7. (Not) Backing Up
Let’s face it. We don’t like to backup. Not because we don’t like being safe, but because it takes time. The backing up process can be a real pain. However, what is much much worse is to discover that there is no backup right after some important data loss. Make sure you prevent this from happening to you, preferably using a version control system like subversion.
6. Error Checking
Unfortunately, source code error checking should be implemented in every program. This is even more applicable when a program starts to grow in size. Not doing so can present serious problems, leading to number 8. We like to get the job done as quickly as possible and sometimes omit error checking only to discover that if we had done so beforehand, we would have saved precious time discovering why a critical error occurred.
5. Repetition
How frustrating. Doing the same things over and over. This is especially true when creating any programming (or else) environment. Think of linux for instance. If you format and reinstall linux, the things that you need to do to have your system working fine are humongous. Programmers – and not only – absolutely hate that. For a reason, if i may say.
4. Reviewing Your Own Code 3 Months Later
Did you comment out your code effectively ? Well, at least in the past, i would most probably not do that. Once you have to reuse your code after some time though, things are getting more complicated. This is why a good comment strategy and especially descriptive variables and functions names are the way to go. Don’t hesitate to name your code after long names. It can be a savior.
3. Not Drinking Coffee
There is no chance to program effectively without coffee. This is not an argument. No, i don’t accept any opinions. Well, i could … But on second thought, no.
2. Writing The F*cking Manual
How much have we been preached for reading the manual ? What about writing it ? In the second position of the list lies the nightmare of development. Creating the manual to explain how your programs work. As much as programmers love to write code, they really hate writing manuals.
1. Waking Up Early
The holy grail of annoyances. The only thing that is actually nice to do in the small hours is go to sleep and not wake up. Of course, this is actual true for most people in the globe. Who wouldn’t want to wake up a little bit later after all ?
Loading ...
Kr0w (3)
Blake (2)
George Siotas (2)
jhai (2)
2freelaptop com (1)
Adolfo (1)
Alam (1)
Alan (1)
Alex B (1)
Alex Kot (1)
So True.
Number 1 is torture! Especially when you have insomnia and you have to wake up at 5am everyday
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
i really like point number 2. :] im really lazy doing that.. nightmare of development.. hehe..
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Useful write-up. Was searching for this kind of subject on yahoo when I discovered your blog. Lots of fabulous content and articles on here. Definately one for my bookmarking. Jon
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
number 1) ? you don’t have kids, right?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0