Street Corners

Ever found yourself constantly juggling between different projects, languages, and codebases? It can be challenging to keep track of everything, especially when working on complex projects with multiple modules and dependencies. In fact, this context switching appears to be cognitively the most intense. However, have you ever considered using your 🌈 imagination to help you remember code?

I know that sounds kind of lame. But I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I often visualize my programming code in physical, real-world places. These places often involve street corners and large cross sections that are capable of having multiple perspectives, providing ample space for storing information. Visualizing code in this way can help to make it more memorable and easier to recall when needed.

In my experience, visualizing code in physical spaces has allowed me to store more information than I usually would. Whenever I feel like my head isn't big enough to store everything, I can access these spaces to recall important details.

What's even more intriguing is what happens the other way around, that is, whenever I visit one of these places in real life. I immediately associate it with parts of a certain project or codebase. This has created sort of like a barrier between what I know and where I know it, making it easier for me to remember and recall important details.

As a designer by nature, I'm a more visual person. This might explain why visualizing code in physical spaces works so well for me. However, I wonder if other programmers experience the same thing. If you're someone who visualizes code in a similar way, I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

Interestingly, I've even dreamt of code, but this was far less pleasant to endure. Transforming abstract information into visually uncontrolled data can be a strange experience. But perhaps this is just the price of code dreaming, or thinking of code before going to bed.

In conclusion, visualizing programming code in physical spaces can be an effective way to help remember and recall important details. By associating code with familiar locations, you could make complex codebases more manageable and easier to navigate.

If you're struggling to keep track of everything, try visualizing your code in a physical space and see if it works for you. Who knows, it might just also help you remember code better and make your programming tasks a little easier.