4 Degrees Of Programming Distraction

One of the advantages about being a hobbyist coder is that I have no deadlines and can go where my interests take me.

One of the disadvantages about being a hobbyist coder is that I have no deadlines and can go where my interests take me.

Here's a cautionary tale of four degrees of programming distraction I've just blundered through. Maybe I need to focus!

There was the plan...

As long ago as New Year's Day 2021 I confidently announced that I'd decided on a related pair of programs I was going to concentrate on. Two days later I'd decided on a third one to join the group.

So I started on them right? Not a chance!

1st degree

I was working on a music mix and made my usual mistake of spending too long on the mix without resting my ears. Right, I thought, what I need is a little timer app that tells me to take a break. But not one of the many available. Oh no. What I want is one tailored to the ideal work pattern when mixing music.

2nd degree

So, I start writing this timer app and I soon came across a bugbear of mine and that's the inconsistency in parameter order in the string utility library functions in Delphi. Now, when I was writing CodeSnip, I collected all the string utilities I needed a unit and expanded on them. Right then, instead of duplicating that why not make a string library and publish it?

3rd degree

While starting work on this new string library project I stumbled across a partly completed array utility library that I'd forgotten about. Well, I might as well finish that and publish them both together hadn't I? Down that rabbit hole I started to finish the array utilities to work with Delphi 10.4 Berlin. That meant using fully specified unit names that include the namespace. Now finding out which unit was in what namespace was tedious. But I could do something about that couldn't I?

4th degree

What I needed was a utility to tell me what unit is in which namespace. Can't find one? Never mind, I could always write one. And then I discovered ...

Well no, I actually finished this one!! See my post about the new Unit2NS program for proof!

A bonus distraction...

And if all that's not enough, there a more than a few of these things lying round the house:

So what's the plan now?

Are you expecting that I've decided to go on a time management course or read a self-help book? Nope, I'm just going to embrace the fact that this is a hobby and my only motivation is to enjoy it.

But there is a new plan: I'm not going to pre-announce anything again and I'll just keep following my nose.

And will those music applications I announced materialise? Who knows!

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