Programmers need to have continuous output

I believe that all programmers need to find a good balance between:

1. Lock yourself in a private office and have an intimate conversation with the compiler about your program.

2. Go to public places and talk openly about your program with others.

I have talked about this topic several times, so I won’t repeat it here.

Most programmers are introverts. Therefore, they usually don't need any encouragement to avoid people and be alone with their computers. It's natural for them. Running to their own devices, that's where their heart is. I don't blame them, because computers are much more rational than humans! That's why most of us are drawn to this field. However, it is possible to go too far in the other direction. This is extremely rare because it goes against the introverted personality of most software developers, but it does happen. In my case, sometimes I worry that I spend more time talking about programming than actually writing code.

The moment I spent all my time talking about programming and almost no time writing code myself, I had a terrible fear: I had become a full-time critic. And the world hates nothing more than critics. Critics bring only flashes of insight to the world, not real, solid things. Instead of participating in human-made activities, they sit on the sidelines, observe others working on it, and then spout off a bunch of cleverly worded opinions and criticisms. How sad!

I had that problem, and was inspired when I read this blog post from SEO Black Hat:

You do it now!

Don't wait! Don't dawdle! In this world, the successful people are not those who know how to make money but still procrastinate. The successful people know the priorities and are good at seizing the day.

Keep a to-do list and make sure the important tasks get done. Every project you're involved in should be in motion. If not, you're stuck. To make money, your next step shouldn't be something "I'll have time to deal with next week." If something can help you make money, do it now!

Some people may think, why do you need to swear and say "f***". Yes! You need that kind of influence, that kind of power, that kind of appeal, that kind of effect of being kicked in the ass to take action. Otherwise, you will become another loser - even if you have a great idea a long time ago, but you have nothing to show for it. Dreamers don't make money. People who do things make money. And people who do things just do it!

Like the jolt of a strong cup of coffee. For some, it might be a little too much like the movie "Golden Money," especially with this speech in the following scene:

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Even if it's exaggerated, I think this advice applies to programming as well. The best programmers are doers. Cade Roux also pointed out in the comments that the blackboard in the movie says "Always Be Closing", but we should think of it as "Always Be Shipping".

It's healthy to discuss features, but sometimes the value of a feature is inversely proportional to how much it's discussed. As software developers, our job is to ship features and solve business problems, not to have endless discussions about them. As Marc Andreessen said, our value is measured by what we (and our code) accomplish, not the discussion around it.

In a background check, I want to know what this person has done. Not just being involved, or partially involved, or a witness, or a bystander.

I want to know about what you do at work (or preferably in your spare time). The business you started in high school. The nonprofit you founded in college. If you're a programmer, show me an open source project you've made a major contribution to. And so on.

If I've learned nothing -- if the candidate has been following the rules, taking classes when they should, taking exams when they should, and working when they graduate, and has never achieved anything remarkable since the start -- then they may lack a sense of urgency. You can't change them.

Maybe "you do it now" is too extreme. But at least you should make sure that you spend an equal amount of time "doing" as "talking about" it. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the right thing to do is. If I knew, I'd probably be a millionaire now. You have to make your own judgment on what's really worth doing.