Different Programming Mode

Programming is more than just writing code

Many people, including developers, believe that the activity of programming is just writing code. They are either ignorant because they don’t develop or do not pay attention while they develop. Programming can be divided into a few activities that have very different mind-sets and this isn’t just my experience it also accords with Martin Fowler.

The most popular activity is adding new features. It is the one that most people relate to as the only activity of software development. The others are refactoring, debugging, research and development, performance improvement just to name a few.

When refactoring your mind-set should be “I should never change the behavior of the code”. When adding features the mind-set is “I am changing and/or adding new behavior to the code”. These two mind-sets have a different feel or rhythm as Martin Fowler describes it.

Based on this then developers should have a quiet area in which to work. Making the transition between the modes much easier. A great article about it is A Field Guide to Developers