when youre in over your head

[dELtaluca]

what do you do when you're writing a program, and you get to the point where its so big and complex, that just thinking about it starts to give you a headache?

(this is not meant to be you telling me what i can do when this happens, but what you do when it happens)

[elbekko]

I put it aside for a day or two, do something else and then get back to work on it :P

[henke37]

I organise my programs in such ways that this never happends.

[Darkagentx]

At 11/6/06 03:37 AM, henke37 wrote: I organise my programs in such ways that this never happends.

While good organisation help alot, sometimes you've just been at it too long, or some niggling little problem in what is otherwise "perfect" is driving you nuts, or a part you just don't know the code for...

It'll happen. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But you'll be knee deep in code when...

Boom! Exception! Compile error on line 13494213...

[dELtaluca]

it doesnt matter how well you organise it, you can still get to the point where its so big and complex, that it gets hard to think about it all.

[RageOfOrder]

I get a beer, and go sit outside on the roof for a while :)

[thoughtpolice]

Don't stress when you're not working on it. The last thing you want to be doing is thinking of a new, faster path-finding algorithm during the middle of your english class. Same when you're at a friends house, etc. etc..

When you're in over your head, having a calm attitude and not overthinking it can be a great way to help. Don't overthink it, some things in the program are done and finished with, so move on. Don't compromise system integrity, that is, don't put in things that don't need to be there. That tip is actually more to be decided during your design phase, but it makes all the difference in the world so you don't suffer from design oversight, etc., otherwise, your application will be nothing more than a realization and living example of the Second System effect. Listen to things like Brook's law,

[Jordan]

Get pissed off.

Like just now, i couldn't get mod_rewrite in htaccess working, got annoyed searching for loads of different codes/tutorials that i thought "didn't work". Then realised the mod_rewrite module was commented out # in httpd.conf as a default wamp setting.

Working now =D