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Thodoris Kouleris
Thodoris Kouleris

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Music for Programmers

Programming is a highly mental activity that relies on intense focus and mental balance. To achieve this, many programmers isolate themselves from their environment by listening to music. Some people disagree with this practice—Robert Martin, for example, avoids music while programming—but most programmers I know use music to help them write code. But what kind of music?

Personally, I avoid music with lyrics. Not because the lyrics interfere with my work, but because when I write software, I don’t even pay attention to them. The same goes for podcasts, TV shows, or talks. I prefer instrumental music. I find myself....

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Top comments (6)

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mikeydorje profile image
Mikey Dorje • Edited

As a musician and a developer, I find this topic super interesting. Sometimes, I listen to very slow ambient music, but mostly I like to code in silence because, as a musician, the music can be a distraction. I can, however, shift my focus to put the music "in the background" of my attention, which I do sometimes. And I'll venture into other areas of music, almost exclusively instrumental, lo-fi instrumental hip-hop, deep minimal techno, among lots of other genres/sounds...

The 1978 classic of classics for ambient music, Brian Eno's Music for Airports is a very frequent pick for me

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Chuck Reeves

My new obsession for coding music: Epic covers. Artists who take songs and make them sound so Epic. 2WEI and Hidden Citizens are some examples. Some are even featured in film trailers. Spacehogs "In the Meantime" was covered like this for Guadians of the Galaxy Vo3

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tkouleris profile image
Thodoris Kouleris

Nice! I am going to try out coding with Epic Music! I just listened to O Fortuna Epic Version and I loved it!

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manchuck profile image
Chuck Reeves

I have a Spotify playlist to get you started: open.spotify.com/playlist/1b5gTr8L...

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gorky_demircn_940064e42e9 profile image
Gorky Demircn

Well, to be honest, It does not interfere with me that much. It gives super focus and concentration. Rather than voluming up, I prefer with low volume. Even if it goes too trashy still I can get my focus. So, everyone is different. When I open a song from Exodus, Testament, Judas Priest, BLS, etc. They give me what I need. So, I think music absolutely plays an important role among programmers. One fact is that, whenever I get a daunting task, I listen to "Blacklist" by Exodus. This solves everything :D. So, I could suggest all, you must give it a try. :D

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My Han Giang

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