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Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by bilfurd (Hermit) on Jul 04, 2003 at 00:03 UTC
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It will take a while to get back into form. I have the same problem just going from project to project. The last time was after working on a few database project, I wanted to do some basic file i/o. I had to break out the camel book just to get through it.
Dig through some old code. Write a couple utilities. Do some creative fooling around and give yourself time to get back into the groove. Don't get down about it -- frustration is part of what holds you back!
I also found the movie Brazil helps. You will have to not see it to understand it. I watched it three times and it just gets stranger every time. It is a great way to forget about something that's giving you a headache! | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by chunlou (Curate) on Jul 04, 2003 at 02:02 UTC
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This is also a common problem for scientists and engineers who need to program in whatever on an as-needed basis. Sometimes you did something in C for some math stuff. Two years later, you don't even remember how to compile a source file.
I keep a bunch of short cheating scripts that basically illustrate various important aspects of a language. Could be something as basic as this:
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[d/l] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by toma (Vicar) on Jul 04, 2003 at 08:56 UTC
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The likely upside is that you have lost a bad
coding habit or two.
This is a great time to relearn to
code, and to use only best coding style that you
can imagine. Perhaps you used to like someone
else's code better than your own. Look at that
persons code and use their style as your template.
For getting started again, just write small test
programs to make sure that you know how things work.
Sketch out some diagrams before starting a
big project. Maybe you never needed to do this
before, but now it is a good idea.
It should work perfectly the first time! - toma | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by TGI (Parson) on Jul 04, 2003 at 01:00 UTC
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You might find a quick (re?)read of Learning Perl (or something similar) to be beneficial. You should be able to chug through it much faster than a total newbie. You may even learn something new.
TGI says moo
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good idea!
thats what i do with music
play say blues for months
drop guitar for while
think you suck
go back to the blue music book
learn all you forgot
and something new usually too
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Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by hsweet (Pilgrim) on Jul 04, 2003 at 02:15 UTC
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I teach a Perl class one semester a year. For awhile I was writing a lot of cgi scripts that kept me "in shape", but that has dropped to zero.
I find that it comes back pretty quickly (as long as I keep a reference handy). That and that the act of explaining it to students does a good job of reteaching it to me. (I'm less than certain that my students get it).
I think I even get a little better each time. I finally (1/2) understand Perl objects
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like banannas | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by graff (Chancellor) on Jul 04, 2003 at 04:58 UTC
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Programming -- with any language, not just perl -- is more like playing piano than like riding a bicycle. I used to be quite handy with FORTRAN, but God help me if I had to use it now, even though I've been programming steadily since leaving it behind for other languages. (Same goes for using "vi") | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by drfrog (Deacon) on Jul 04, 2003 at 00:55 UTC
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i too have been hit by this!!!
thankfully, this site and some old code/friends have helped me get on my feet again
ive been finding the personal nodelet on PM has saved me on some of the things i refuse to commit to memory!
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Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by hsmyers (Canon) on Jul 04, 2003 at 20:16 UTC
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You don't so much lose it as it just moves out of reach! You get it back the same way you get to Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice. For those into weight lifting as an activity (or life work for that matter) the rule is that it takes you half the time you've been out to regain the form you had when you stopped. Programming is similar in that the struggle to regain is shorter than the struggle to acquire in the first place.
--hsm
"Never try to teach a pig to sing...it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by chaoticset (Chaplain) on Jul 06, 2003 at 14:42 UTC
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I've found that going through old code is typically the way I get back in the mode of thinking that I need. Look through the last few things you wrote, and work from there.
-----------------------
You are what you think. | [reply] |
Re: Confession - Getting hit with "Use it or lose it"
by johndageek (Hermit) on Jul 07, 2003 at 15:29 UTC
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Two things: you wonder if you are burnt out still and it feels depressing to hunt ...
When you are tired or have come off some exciting adventure (starting your own business) you have used up a lot of your reserves so total recall isn't, and if you didn't have total recall before it is worse.
Suggeations I have taken:
1) get rested (later than 10:00 pm is too late for an old guy like me to hit a mental challange hitting a pillow is more productive)
2) as I learn or relearn a language, create code snippets showing how a particular type of code works. e.g. regex.pl contains a bunch of samples of regex usage, printing and so on, array.pl contains a bunch of fun stuff with arrays including sorts.
3)cut and paste as often as possible to get the job done. Improve your code as you go, and add to your code snippets as better ways are found.
4) forget about writing code up to the standard you set while in peak form - it ain't gonna happen. Sure, I could ride a century each weekend 2 years ago, but today with the 40 lbs back on, and legs out of practice, it would kill me. Now I must start riding smaller distances, work on diet and regain the skills and pysical shape nessecery to do what was easy 2 years ago. The benefit I have now is I know I can do it, I can do it better than I am doing it now, I know what I must do to get better, I know how much it will hurt to get there. Now decide - do I need to be as good as when I was in copmpetition shape, do I want to be in my current shape, or do I want to be in between.
Decide where you want to be, then plan to get there in a reasonable amount of time. Stamping your foot, screaming I gotta be as good as I was is only going to hurt your foot and stress you out. Be reasonable with yourself, stress in excess will hurt your recovery speed. Do a job as well as you can and move on.
Good luck
Enjoy Perl
Enjoy other things too!
Da geek | [reply] |
