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Can we talk about something? I can't be the only one...

Code dreams.

What are they? You either sleep poorly, lightly, or not at all and continually repeat nonsensical code that you would otherwise KNOW is wrong when awake, (and it may even be a problem you already solved!) but for some reason your brain just wants you to mull over it over and over again.

I've been free of them for quite some time, but it happened now the past two nights. Drives me fucking nuts.

Comments
  • 4
    When I code in my dreams I'm not actually writing code, I'm physically building processes. They're just boxes I'm moving around and linking up with cables.

    Weird thing is, I know what code is running in those functions without actually doing anything other than just thinking about it.

    Once I have a process built I can run it and see everything happen in realtime and fix any problems that happen.

    These dreams have helped me plan and develop stuff in the real world.

    Our brains are amazing.
  • 6
    I never have nor ever had code dreams.

    Just today I had a dream that I was doing crystal meth with my friends though. I usually have very nice dreams
  • 3
    I sometimes able to think more clearly about the code I'm trying to solve when I'm in 'half-sleep' mode.
    Because, it cuts out all the noises in the real world and you can only focus on ONE thing during that particular moment.

    Sometime it works, sometime it is not. But what do I have to lose. Just slept on it....

    ><
  • 3
    I have had fever dreams about coding when I had strep throat.

    Wait until your subconscious writes code on your computer while your conscious is in a fuzzy state. Even stranger when it compiles and runs correctly.
  • 2
    @Hazarth clearly the best dreams involve cocaine.

    Meth is for rednecks and poor people.
  • 2
    @sariel Well I'm not even sure it was Meth, it didn't have a name and it was distributed in perfectly shaped blue crystals... I just assumed it was meth because of Breaking Bad! maybe it was some sort of space drug!
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    The code in my dreams usually does make sense. But i keep going over it again and again and again, waking up every hour or two because it’s just sooo boringg it wakes me up. And when I manage to fall asleep again, the dream repeats, or sometimes continues it on but it’s not like much changes.

    It’s the worst sleep ever.
  • 0
    Yeah
    dreams.of.writing programs

    The content of dreams is directly affected by neural activity while.conscious
  • 3
    Once I had a code nightmare. Still trying to wake up
  • 2
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    @Demolishun i remember actually sitting in front of a hard to solve C++ related bug one day, and was trying to fix it to no avail. I though: okay lets go to sleep then.

    So i went.

    I started dreaming about the problem, and essentially dreamed about the solution.
    i woke up, started typing exactly what i remember from my dream, it compiled first try, and the bug was gone aswell.

    Then i went back to sleep, because i was still fuckin' tired.
  • 2
    My coding dreams are usually me organizing data in JSON or maybe even XML or CSV or SQL. The data in the JSON is not anything coding related but might be blocks from my life, like remember to buy X for Y kid.

    Usually these happen during migraines so I repeat the same bit over and over and over and over during the night and don't get any actual sleep done.
  • 0
    I had some. For me - it means I'm overworked and awfully tired. Better get some vacation or try to code less for some time <3
  • 1
    @thebiochemic That is awesome next level 100x programming right there! Awesome story!
  • 0
    We once had a wierd race condition in our code that we couldn't figure out after hours of debugging .. we were on call for almost 3 hours and it was nearing midnight , the senior dev was like let's sleep it off guys ... The next day when I login , I saw him push a commit at 3 am which fixed the underlying issue , I asked him how he figured it out , he said .. it came to him in his dream
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