Comments on: Music To Make Love To Your Old Code By http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/ programming, politics, & other religious issues Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:16:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Robert Fischer http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/#comment-33433 Robert Fischer Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:47:12 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=665#comment-33433 I do turn off the music when I'm thinking at a high level and solving problems -- I find it's distracting at that point. But, at least in my experience, the vast majority of coding isn't problem solving: most of it is putting the right pieces into the right places and making the wiring work. And, yeah, the familiarity is important. It's easy to get distracted otherwise. I do turn off the music when I’m thinking at a high level and solving problems — I find it’s distracting at that point. But, at least in my experience, the vast majority of coding isn’t problem solving: most of it is putting the right pieces into the right places and making the wiring work.

And, yeah, the familiarity is important. It’s easy to get distracted otherwise.

]]> By: Scott Vokes http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/#comment-33432 Scott Vokes Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:02:33 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=665#comment-33432 This is from memory: In the study, two groups of programmers were given some sort of problem to solve, with one group listening to music at the time and one working in silence*. Each group had a mix of people who preferred music while programming and who preferred silence, to rule out personal preference and practice tuning it out. The study found that while both groups did equally well in general, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of programmers in the programming-without-music group who realized that much of the work in the problem canceled out when viewed as a whole, and solved it considerably faster as a result. (There's also a summary on Ward Cunningham's wiki under http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?ThinkingMusicConsideredHarmful .) * This doesn't compare "listening to music to filter out ambient noise" vs. "enduring the ambient noise", of course. Without going into personal tastes, while programming I prefer music I already know really well. Actively listening to new stuff really distracts me, but I have a set of ten or so albums/playlists that I listen to regularly when working and not in the mood for white noise. This is from memory:
In the study, two groups of programmers were given some sort of problem to solve, with one group listening to music at the time and one working in silence*. Each group had a mix of people who preferred music while programming and who preferred silence, to rule out personal preference and practice tuning it out. The study found that while both groups did equally well in general, there was a statistically significant increase in the number of programmers in the programming-without-music group who realized that much of the work in the problem canceled out when viewed as a whole, and solved it considerably faster as a result.
(There’s also a summary on Ward Cunningham’s wiki under http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?ThinkingMusicConsideredHarmful .)

* This doesn’t compare “listening to music to filter out ambient noise” vs. “enduring the ambient noise”, of course.

Without going into personal tastes, while programming I prefer music I already know really well. Actively listening to new stuff really distracts me, but I have a set of ten or so albums/playlists that I listen to regularly when working and not in the mood for white noise.

]]> By: Robert Fischer http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/#comment-33431 Robert Fischer Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:11:17 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=665#comment-33431 @Scott Vokes Maybe it's just because I'm media-saturated, but if I don't have something playing in the background, I have a lot of trouble focusing. I need the low-level distraction or I go into high-level distractions. No, I haven't read that study. What's it say? @Scott Vokes

Maybe it’s just because I’m media-saturated, but if I don’t have something playing in the background, I have a lot of trouble focusing. I need the low-level distraction or I go into high-level distractions.

No, I haven’t read that study. What’s it say?

]]> By: Scott Vokes http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/#comment-33430 Scott Vokes Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:04:03 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=665#comment-33430 I tend to listen to noise loops (pink noise, white noise adjusted to be less hiss-y) as often as music. Sometimes I find music too distracting. Also, have you read about the study about programming while listening to music in Peopleware? I tend to listen to noise loops (pink noise, white noise adjusted to be less hiss-y) as often as music. Sometimes I find music too distracting.

Also, have you read about the study about programming while listening to music in Peopleware?

]]> By: Stevi Deter http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/posts/music-for-coding/#comment-33424 Stevi Deter Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:47:44 +0000 http://enfranchisedmind.com/blog/?p=665#comment-33424 Now that I have an office, I put the headphones on less frequently. But the standards for me are techno, classical guitar, and Spanish pop. I can't listen to anything with lyrics I understand. I swear I'm dragging my feet on really learning Spanish because it means having to get an entirely different musical library. Now that I have an office, I put the headphones on less frequently. But the standards for me are techno, classical guitar, and Spanish pop. I can’t listen to anything with lyrics I understand. I swear I’m dragging my feet on really learning Spanish because it means having to get an entirely different musical library.

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