Nerdcore 4 Life

So I started my project over 2 months ago. In that time I’ve learned a lot, mostly from my horrible, horrible mistakes. So now I have a rather built up library and a good deal of it has been built up wrong and must be corrected. Lacking any underlings to assign this task it’s looking more and more like I’ll have to fix the code myself(when are they going to invent goblins that know C++ I ask you?).

So I know that I have to go through every file in the project and implement the following:

1. RAII so my code is safe
2. Documented using the Doxys standard so my library is accessible
3. Variables written in my own Hungarian Notation so my code is more consistent/correct

In addition to being, well, finished these are the things that must be accomplished before I’m going to feel comfortable putting my code out there for all to see(all being potential employers you see).

It’s not that difficult really, simply list which files have been verified to conform for each of these tasks and then go through the ones that haven’t. The problem is the mind-numbingosity of that task. The reason you never leave these kind of things to the end of a project is that we’d rather chew out our own eyes then sit there for 2 weeks renaming, checking for exceptions and documenting.

Luckily all these tasks are easy to do in pieces. Whether I’ve documented files X and Y has nothing to do with documenting Z and vice versa. So then I just need a schedule to get this stuff going and make sure I don’t try and put it off to the end.

Which presents an opportunity to solve another problem I have. Getting fucking started. If I walk in, sit down and get right to work I know it’s going to be a great day. If I check my email, my RSS feeds or(God forbid) start a game of Portal I know getting anything accomplished is going to be a struggle.

Often how fast I get started in the morning is in direct proportion to how clear I am on what I have to do. Hemmingway used to stop mid sentence so when he came back the next morning he never had to wonder what to start writing. I think updating my project code presents the same opportunity.

So for the next week here’s the plan. I’m going to come in and spend the first hour trying to update my code to my new standards. I can even make a game out of it, trying to beat my previous record(it kept Skinner alive). Hopefully that will help make sure my whole project is ready for prime time at the same time and allow me to bypass that destructive urge to see what popped up on Fark the night before.