There are no secrets on an successful software project. Both good and bad news must be able to move up and down the ptoject hierarchy without restriction.
Steve McconnellRead
... programming requires more concentration than other activities. It's the reason programmers get upset about 'quick interruptions' - such interruptions are tantamount to asking a juggler to keep three balls in the air and hold your groceries at the same time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Programming demands deep focus, and interruptions can disrupt that concentration significantly.
In this quote, Steve McConnell emphasizes the importance of sustained concentration in programming work. He compares programming to juggling, illustrating how even small interruptions can destabilize a programmer's flow and productivity, similar to how a juggler would struggle if asked to manage additional tasks while maintaining their act.
Themes
ProgrammingConcentrationDistractionsProductivityFocus
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting, to emphasize the need for an uninterrupted work period for developers.
More from Steve Mcconnell
All quotes →Good code is its own best documentation. As you're about to add a comment, ask yourself, "How can I improve the code so that this comment isn't needed?" Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer.
Steve McconnellRead
Similar quotes
The mistake that makes launching a venture expensive is when you try to make a disruptive technology so good that it can compete on a quality basis with an established product.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
The Semantic Web is not a separate Web but an extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.
Tim Berners-LeeRead
First, we want to establish the idea that a computer language is not just a way of getting a computer to perform operations but rather that it is a novel formal medium for expressing ideas about methodology. Thus, programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.
Hal AbelsonRead
In technology, we spend so much time experimenting, fine-tuning, getting the absolute cheapest way to do something - so why aren't we doing that with social policy?
Esther DufloRead
The thing about the Internet is that you can write something... for a very narrow audience and make a living at it.
Randall MunroeRead
The space shuttle was often used as an example of why you shouldn't even attempt to make something reusable. But one failed experiment does not invalidate the greater goal. If that was the case, we'd never have had the light bulb.
Elon MuskRead