Are programmers introverts

Most programmers see social gatherings and social events as a waste of time.

Back in my university days, my tech colleagues and I do plan weekend hangouts once a month just to catch fun and try new things.

If I’m to plan the event, I’ll start by making it clear to a specific category not to come along with their laptops.

It’s common to see developers tagging along to events with their PC.

You often see them drifting to the quiet side of the gathering to check codebase, push a few commits, staring at their personal uncompleted project, especially during short in-event breaks.

As creative thinkers, they always try to keep themselves in a quiet place and enjoy staying alone.

Programming requires deep focus and concentration and this makes programmers work for a lengthy period of time.

They sit for hours working and staring at their computer.
Their breaks are often used to think about the next step as their calculative brains keep working round the clock.

Programming as a professional field involves a great deal of creativity and imagination.

Every product designed to make work interaction easier for humans all start with a single idea.

And with programming languages, software developers and programmers breathe life onto these ideas.

In one of our recent article titled “Are Programmers Artists?”, we agreed that programmers are considered artists because programming requires a great deal of imagination.

An artist starts with a blank canvas and end up with a nice artwork through gradual refinement.

Similarly, a programmer starts with a blank IDE, and with amassed skills, iteration, research and code optimization, they create a functional product.

The same applies to introverts, they are laced with an active imagination roped around a busy mind. There’s a constant hum of activities in their minds which often needs a creative outlet.

Some of the world’s top inventors like Bill Gates, Albert Einstein and several others are introverts and they prefer solitude to focus on their crafts.

While it’s true that introverts are often very creative, this doesn’t mean that they are automatically more innovative than extroverts.

One major trait of good programmers is their ability to conduct in-depth research and this is often fuelled by one’s curiosity.

Like Introverts, Programmers don’t just digest information at the surface level, rather they would like to discover the root cause as they believe there’s a reason for everything.

This level of curiosity can be attributed to the nature of their job.

In our article: “How many hours should I code a day”?, we highlighted the dilemma of the 10,000 Hour Mastery Rule that says: the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.

However, we discovered that most senior developers with 20 years of experience and over 10,0000 work hours still find themselves learning and adjusting to new technologies.

Curiosity fuels research and continuous learning which are required by programmers to remain abreast in a world of ever-changing technologies.

Are you aware that most programmers are overthinkers?

Most times it can get so intense to a point where it affects one’s creativity.

Warren Wan referred to this as Code Paralysis: a situation of impaired productivity due to overthinking in the context of software development.

The ability to create mind-blowing stuff with just lines of code seems like super powers as they are often struct into deep thought at the flash of an idea or when trying to resolve bug issues.

And just like introverts, they pay keen attention to details.

Correlation Between Programming and Introversion

No doubt, there’s a solid correlation between programming and introversion. 

However, correlation don’t mean causation.

Do Programming makes one Introverted?

Introversion is a behavioral trait. It has nothing to do with you being a programmer.

Extroverts and socially active people won’t become introverted because they got into programming.
Yes, it requires time and dedication but it doesn’t mean it can alter one’s behavioral perspective. 

Is Coding Good for Introverts?

The common traits of introverts – deep focus, dedication, creativity and clear thinking make them excel in programming and any coding-related job.
However, without extroverted non-coding skills like communication, teamwork, and collaboration, programmers and software engineers can never attain the professional standards often needed for large and complex projects.

Again, anybody can be a good programmer irrespective of whether they are introvert or extroverts.

In essence, extroversion and introversion have no relation to one’s intelligence.

Why do Introverts Prefer Programming as Career Choice? 

Introverts are more inclined to choose programming as their profession because it needs more solo work and relatively less peer interaction when compared to fields like management, sales, consulting marketing, etc.
Programming doesn’t make one introverted rather introverts choose programming as their career choice.

Conclusion

Just like we have introverted programmers, we also have extroverted programmers.
Being a good programmer is not benched marked on whether one is an introvert or extrovert.
But rather one’s ability to grasp the basic underlying knowledge, dedication, willingness to learn and consistency over a given period of time.

And that’s a wrap.

Till we meet again in another article.

Happy Coding!

Are Developers Introverted or Extroverted? Are They Intuitive or Logical?

InfoQ Homepage News Are Developers Introverted or Extroverted? Are They Intuitive or Logical?

QCon London (March 27-29, 2023): Adopt the right emerging trends to solve your engineering challenges.

Leia em Português

This item in japanese

Bookmarks

Feb 20, 2013 2 min read

by

• Abel Avram

Write for InfoQ

A new Evans Data survey has performed an ample study meant to uncover some of the characteristics of the developer community. Are developers introverted or extroverted? Are they intuitive or logical? Do they prefer virtual or real rewards? What is most worrisome for their carrier? And many others.

Evans Data Corporation (EDC) has conducted a recent online survey meant to decipher the attitudes, adoption patterns and intentions of developers in relation to marketing. The survey was done through an in-depth interview of 457 developers from the EDC International Panel of Developers which, according to EDC, includes around 75,000 developers from 85 countries recruited as neutrally as possible without being vendor or platform related.

Motivation

When it comes to what’s driving them in their work, developers under the age of 25 start as being mostly curios, then most of them want to enhance their skills, then, around 50-55, they have a time when they like to contribute to the community, being mainly curious after 55 but also remaining with a desire to learn more as shown in the following chart:

Rewards

When it comes to rewards, the study has found that the vast majority of developers prefers virtual rewards (badges, levels, leaderboards points, etc.) to physical ones (cash, vacation, software). Two thirds of the developers incline towards recognition from their peers:

Carrier Worries

During the survey the developers were asked to identify what’s most worrisome for their carrier, what happens to the platform they are developing for, their skills or the tools they use? Developers consider that the decline of their platform of choice or tools is more worrisome than their skills becoming outdated. EDC interprets that as “A developer can always learn new skills but if you’ve just invested years of your life and possibly a lot of money on developing an app for a particular platform or technology, and the platform becomes irrelevant in the market, then you’ve potentially lost a lot.”

Introverted vs. Extroverted

Programmers are stereotyped as introverted geeks, even nerds, but what do they consider themselves? Most of the develops think they are extroverted, half of them being moderately extroverted, as shown below. The results were consistent across different countries. Being such a personal question, perhaps a more precise measurement method would be using observation rather then self evaluation.

Intuition vs. Logic

Another question was meant to measure how much developers rely on intuition and how much on logic. The results are those expected, 85% of them placing themselves on the logical side of the equation:

The 200-pages survey contains answers to many developer related questions, such as:

• What Makes a Developer Excited about a Tool or Technology?
• Why do Developers Become Developers?
• How Many Would Change Tech Careers for More Money?
• Motivations for Abandoning a Platform
• Companies Developers Believe Are Most Relevant
• Most Credible Source on Emerging Technologies
• Top Reasons for Attending Webinars
• Best Length for Instructional Videos

and many others like those.

Rate this Article

Adoption

Author Contacted

A round-up of last week’s content on InfoQ sent out every Tuesday. Join a community of over 250,000 senior developers. View an example

We protect your privacy.

Introvert, programmer, introvert programmer / Sudo Null IT News

Artemchk December 14, 2012 at 03:31 PM

GTD *

Sandboxed

We all know perfectly well that a lot of stereotypes revolve around the profession of a programmer. Of course, there is some truth in them - no one has canceled professional deformation, but most of it is still fiction, over which the developer himself is sometimes not averse to laughing.

In my opinion, the concept of introversion is also sometimes interpreted incorrectly. And in a bunch of a programmer-introvert, absolutely crazy ideas are born.

A bit of theory

Start by understanding the nature of an introvert. According to the theory of Carl Jung, the type of temperament is inherent in a person from birth and depends on his physiological structure. So the cerebral blood flow in the internals is more complex and long. With what it is connected, and even more so, whether it is good or bad, we will not consider. It will be more interesting for us to analyze the differences between introverts and extroverts.

First of all, introverts differ in that they replenish their vital energy reserves on their own. For this, their inner ideas, emotions, experiences are enough for them. They are slower and less social as they conserve their powers. They can easily be overexcited by what is happening around, even if it is something joyful. They are accustomed to being more self-aware than receiving from outside. The interior is distinguished by the predominance of depth over the breadth of thinking. At the same time, introverts, in comparison with extroverts, are able to better feel the task, focus more deeply. The positive aspects are also perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.

Discussing

Why did I start developing this topic? The fact is that we live in a world of extroverts and without understanding their essence, an introvert will experience certain problems, and after that, the people around him will feel the difficulties.

So what should you pay attention to?

1. The most important task is to realize the type of your temperament and if you are an introvert, then get ready to take care of yourself and love yourself. It turns out that insiders have unique qualities that allow them to solve a number of certain tasks better than extroverts and experience pleasure from this. We are talking about long-term projects in which they are ready to immerse themselves completely.
2. An introvert needs to carefully prepare his workplace. It is desirable to be able at a certain moment to plunge headlong into work and thereby close oneself from the outside world, replenishing one's energy reserves. Partition walls, hedges, or earmuffs are great for this.
3. An introvert is advised to plan his working day in advance. So, the insider needs to know today the topic of tomorrow's meeting or brainstorming. Then the environment for him will be more comfortable and natural inhibition will be replaced by the ability to consider the problem from all sides.
4. It is desirable for an introvert to choose a communication system that is convenient for him. Personal meetings and large companies can dry it out. So, if possible, use other methods of interaction, such as Skype, mail or notes on the walls.
5. An introvert, like no one else, is advised to divide his tasks into smaller ones. A clear work schedule helps them calculate their energy reserves and control the progress of the work. This is very essential for the inner peace.
6. An introvert needs to provide a margin of time in advance when planning the timing of a task. It is extremely important for the insider to know that there is some kind of insurance. As a rule, this helps to finish the work even earlier than the deadlines.
7. It is important for an introvert to learn how to relax. Most often, he does not understand what an incomprehensible contribution he makes to the solution of the problem and neglects rest, refusing to take vacations as well. This is fundamentally wrong and can lead to overvoltage.

Finally

Introverts are unique people who are able to solve a problem in a way that no one else can. Their unique character is a very important link in the system, without which humanity could not have achieved many results. It is important to understand this and live in harmony with yourself and with others.

Tags:

• gtd self-organization bugs myths0005 Views

  39K

  Comments 69

  Artem Bezlepkin @Artemchk

  Server development

  Comments Comments 69

  from prejudices to virtues - Career on vc.ru

  Many talented creators of information technologies are closed people. Often even friends and colleagues consider them "weird". Lecturer at the School of IT and information security HackerU, Vladimir Chepelev, himself is not a fan of idle chatter, he tells why being an introvert is normal, and even useful for programmers. And most importantly, how to build successful projects with them.

  2250 views

  The average programmer is likely to be described to you by people on the street as a man in an overstretched sweater with disheveled hair, unshaven hair and eyes fixed on unseen worlds. Dispelling this myth is not so easy, especially if the interlocutor does not understand how the program code can be more interesting than the new season of True Detective.

  The work of a software developer implies complete immersion in thoughts, calculations, forecasts and ideas about how the final product should turn out in the end. After all, creating an application is a creative process that requires not only concentration, but also a lot of mental effort. You have to model intricate abstractions in your head, structure them, and then also translate them into PL.

  Tip: don't distract a programmer who is stuck. In fact, he works hard, and does not dream of a vacation.

  Any conversation will literally pull the developer out of the created world, back to reality. Thought will be missed, the chain will break. It's like trying to build a house of cards in a strong wind. Every time in my head everything has to be reassembled. Sometimes it exhausts the programmer, and he makes mistakes in the code.

  An introvert means inquisitive

  To be successful, an IT specialist must constantly learn and be aware of the latest technologies. Often the desire to understand new trends goes far beyond narrow specialization. True, it happens that in the pursuit of information, the average programmer ceases to care about its quality. For example, he becomes an avid reader of Wikipedia. However, this certainly broadens one's horizons.

  So if you start telling a programmer about, say, whale songs, he will probably get interested and keep up the conversation. Just be prepared to tell at least a little more than what is written on this topic in the encyclopedia and in no case invent! Everything said can be carefully checked.

  Tip: don't be intrusive and be a good listener. Everyone loves it, especially introverts.

  Do not try to build cunning schemes for establishing contact using psychological tricks to ingratiate yourself. Introverts feel falseness much more sharply than sociable and sociable people.

  Sometimes a simple question is enough. For example: what are you interested in? Or - and would you like to come up with something that has never happened before? In response, you can hear, without exaggeration, a brilliant idea of ​​​​a startup for the launch of which the programmer just lacked you.

  Professional bores

  Every time a programmer has to calculate the maximum possible number of situations that the created application will face: an invalid value was entered into the form, the wrong file type was uploaded, and millions more. Meticulousness in the smallest details eventually becomes a habit.

  From the outside, a scrupulous, sometimes even fanatical desire to take into account all the subtleties looks more like tediousness than an attempt to "get to the very essence." But believe me: there are people who are interested in immersing themselves in work with their heads. Otherwise, nothing will work.

  Tip: don't torture programmers with team building. Until they ask for it.

  There are great developers who are highly valued in companies as effective employees. But they may not be ready to develop a corporate spirit in themselves, play paintball with colleagues on Saturdays and fall into their hands during trainings with their backs forward.

  Surely, not only for introverts, personal interests do not always coincide with collective ones. It is not at all necessary to participate in the congratulations of the chief accountant or go to the Friday party on the occasion of the company's anniversary in the very first month in the office. Although, perhaps, over time, having heard enough stories about how great it was there and having carefully analyzed everything, the new employee will ask for the next party himself.

  Programmers are people too

  The main sins of developers are laziness and procrastination resulting from it. After all, labor is designed to automate most processes, “free your hands” and do either something useless or nothing at all.

  Programmers are real gurus in the art of inventing reasons and circumstances for themselves in order to postpone the solution of a problem until the last minute. Although often approaching the deadline, on the contrary, stimulates thought processes better than any dope.

  Tip: clearly set the task for the developer. Otherwise, he will do everything in his own way.

  Every uncertainty a programmer encounters can be solved by him in hundreds of different ways. And not always the choice of the contractor will coincide with the desire of the customer. Therefore, it is worth discussing as many aspects as possible: from the color of the button to the specific functions that it performs. The option “just do it well and beautifully” will most likely have to be redone more than once.

  Remember that a developer writes programs, not setting up TVs and Internet for friends and neighbors. No, of course, he can do it, but asking him about it just because he is a programmer is at least a shame. But if you offer to write a firmware for the display, or explain incomprehensible items in the menu, the conversation will succeed.

  A good programmer always looks beyond the horizons of the current, and he has to work with something that does not yet exist. Which, of course, requires a lot of effort. Therefore, the more comfortable conditions for it are created, the better the product will be in the end.

  Tips for programmers

  In reality, there are no more and no less introverts among our brother than in any other profession. More often, nerds come across who are only interested in overly abstruse topics, which is why it is more difficult for them to find interlocutors. But this is not a sentence or a diagnosis; this does not make them less talented. So it's definitely worth working with them.

  Many programmers become introverts only when they write code. And the rest of the time they are open for live communication. Also, due to the profession, hypertrophied scrupulousness often interferes.

  ---

  Learn more
  • 
    Signs and symptoms of hypomania
  • 
    Can you be diagnosed with depression and bipolar
  • 
    Depression battle quotes
  • 
    Fear of conflict
  • 
    Effects of child abandonment by mother
  • 
    Obnoxious personality disorder
  • 
    How to deal with racing thoughts
  • 
    Cheap mental health services
  • 
    Insights personality types
  • 
    What techniques are used to view or measure the frontal lobe
  • 
    Are programmers introverts