What to do while building a project?

Question

Assuming that you are working on a project that needs >10-20 seconds to build, what do you do while it is building?

I personally try to learn something in this time (visit stackoverflow, forums, read a book/article) or I try to help others from my team, if they have difficulties.

PS: A full build on a project I am working on takes ~4 hours.

Answer 1

I read stackoverlow :)

And BTW: never tell non-tech manager that you do not have anything to do, or you will end up doing something stupid (eg. trying to work on your computer while building).

Answer 2

Ok so for a more helpful response, have a programming book like Code Complete (2) next to your desk and burn through it. No better time to read programming books than when you have nothing else you can be doing on your system.

for a list of books you can read, see this thread: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1711/what-is-the-single-most-influential-book-every-programmer-should-read

Answer 3

It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of how long your build cycles will last (e.g. some last 40 seconds, some four hours). I'd suggest finding tasks that fit into those gaps and fit those activities into your day.

Here's how I slice it:

20-60 seconds. Use the bathroom, fill the water, check for new email.

2-5 minutes. Respond to an email, have a snack, pet the dog.

10-20 minutes. Read some RSS feeds, walk the dog, StackOverflow.

30-60 minutes. Fitness (stretching, weights, jogging, etc...), book time, HULU time, prepare a meal.

Answer 4

For the unpopular response.

• Write a unit test.
• Refactor some crap.
• Write a unit test this cycle. Refactor the crap under test the next cycle.