I personally don't enjoy A.I. although I have used it from time to time to write simple boilerplate. I also enjoy typing (usually).
Discussion
Yes, boilerplate. That's what I keep hearing. You'd probably have to train one for a long time, to get much more out of it.
Or buy the really expensive one.
Oh, I actually do like the typing, once I get into the "zone". And then I work faster and faster, the more code is there.
But God forbid someone interrupt me and I leave the zone. Then I just stare blankly at the screen again.
I seem to not need that mental clarity to do everything else. I have so much kinetic memory for those tasks, I suppose.
Or maybe it's just anxiety.
That's what it probably is. A form of writer's block.
AI is probably perfect for that, as it just vomits up something and ends the Blank Page Terror.
writing notes has been very useful for getting pass the blocked phase.
I start with a problem statement or definition of what I am trying to do. Then write down the first step or steps. The step must be small, actionable.
Do you mean, you write the notes as comments into the actual program file? Like a structure? And then fill it in with code?
Yes, sometimes. This would be more if I am writing a new function.
But more generally, anytime I get stuck in a moment of inaction I just write in a text file in notepad, or a mead notebook I bring with me everywhere.
Any tool that is maximally simple that it requires 0 thought.
Ah, I see.
And yes AI is very good at that.
I relate to this very much. I haven't done this in a while, but I found at one point that offsetting my day by a few hours earlier helped me carve a block of time where I was virtually guaranteed to be undisturbed for a few hours. I would wake at 5am, be at the office at 6 and have the place to myself until 9am or so.
That sounds nice.
My house is like a train station and my work desk is in the hallway. I just put headphones on and pretend to be deaf.
I was just saying that is what, at one point, I did to solve the interruptions issue. You mileage may vary, Your circumstances are different, etc.
Pretending to be deaf is also a good strategy.
Pretending to be blind and dumb is good too.
I use that one pretty much every time I'm out in public.
😂