Developer Productivity with IntelliJ IDEA (YOW 2024)

Developer productivity is a hot topic right now, but what does it mean? Is it all just about squeezing more lines of code out of us poor, overworked developers? Or could it, in fact, lead to developer joy?

In this session, Trisha will show some of her favorite IntelliJ IDEA tips for improving her own productivity. She'll use these examples to talk about what productivity is, what it is not, and why it's even more important to us as developers than it is to the organizations that pay our salaries. And it's of course important to them, too!

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how IntelliJ IDEA helps them to be effective, productive, and happy. Trisha wants you to look at your toolchain and ask yourself, “Does this enable me to be creative and happy?”

Transcript

1. Trisha Gee @trisha_gee trishagee.com Developer Productivity with IntelliJ IDEA
2. • Lead Developer Advocate at Gradle • Java Champion & JetBrains Community Contributor • 20+ years development experience • Author Trisha Gee
3. • Lead Developer Advocate at Gradle • Java Champion & JetBrains Community Contributor • 20+ years development experience • Author Trisha Gee
4. Learning
6. Right information
7. Right information Right time
8. Right information Right time Right place
9. But Was I Productive?
11. “…saved you from typing ~17.1k characters” “…saved you from ~6 bugs a day”
12. What is productivity?
13. for a developer? What is productivity?
14. Lines of code!
15. Lines of code
16. Git commits!
17. Git commits
18. Bugs fixed!
19. Bugs fixed
20. Measuring Productivity
21. “It’s hard to over-emphasize how unusual it is that an economic sector as large as knowledge work lacks useful standard definitions of productivity.” Slow Productivity Cal Newport
22. SPACE Satisfaction & well-being Performance Activity Communication & Collaboration Efficiency & Flow https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124
23. SPACE Satisfaction & well-being Performance ACTIVITY Communication & Collaboration Efficiency & Flow
24. “As the twentieth century progressed, this visible- activity heuristic became the dominant way we began thinking about productivity in knowledge work.” Slow Productivity Cal Newport
25. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries vanity metrics /ˈvænəti ˈmɛtrɪks/ noun Measurements that give "the rosiest picture possible" but do not accurately reflect the key drivers of a business.
26. SPACE Satisfaction & well-being PERFORMANCE Activity Communication & Collaboration Efficiency & Flow
27. Are you busy All The Time?
28. “Research indicates that when organizations overload employees, base their incentives primarily on the amount… they work, and excessively monitor their activities, https://hbr .org/2023/03/beware-a-culture-of-busyness
29. “Research indicates that when organizations overload employees, base their incentives primarily on the amount… they work, and excessively monitor their activities, productivity and efficiency actually drop.” https://hbr .org/2023/03/beware-a-culture-of-busyness
30. SPACE SATISFACTION & WELL-BEING Performance Activity Communication & Collaboration EFFICIENCY & FLOW
31. Writing Code
32. Always Green: This section covers features that keep your code compiling. IntelliJ IDEA can keep your code compiling even while making big changes. Keyboard First: Here you’ll be learning keyboard shortcuts. Using the keyboard is much faster than using the mouse, and it can help you stay "in the fl ow" when muscle-memory takes over. In The Flow: This section covers features that help to keep you "in the zone", that state of fl ow which is really productive while coding.
33. Flow feels GOOD
34. Flow is an innately positive experience; it is known to "produce intense feelings of enjoyment”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#Satisfaction
35. SPACE Satisfaction & well-being Performance Activity Communication & Collaboration Efficiency & FLOW
36. “The keyboard is not the bottleneck.” Dave Farley
37. Understanding Code
38. youtu.be/L_ycOPmaZTo
39. Source: The 2019 Tidelift managed open source survey results https://bit.ly/3MOEpK3
40. Debugging
41. Context Switching 
 Is A Killer
42. “Studies show that it can take 15–25 minutes to regain deep focus after an interruption. Frequent switching fragments time, leaving developers unable to complete complex tasks efficiently.”
43. “Studies show that it can take 15–25 minutes to regain deep focus after an interruption. Frequent switching fragments time, leaving developers unable to complete complex tasks efficiently.” ChatGPT
44. Integrated Development Environment
45. “For example, developers switched tasks on average 13 times an hour and spent just about 6 minutes on a task before switching to another one.” Developers’ Diverging Perceptions of Productivity André N.Meyer , Gail C. Murphy, Thomas Fritz, Thomas Zimmermann
46. “For example, developers switched tasks on average 13 times an hour and spent just about 6 minutes on a task before switching to another one. 
 The cost or “harm” of a context switch depends on several factors: the duration of the switch, the reason for the switch, and the focus on the current task that is interrupted. ” Developers’ Diverging Perceptions of Productivity André N.Meyer , Gail C. Murphy, Thomas Fritz, Thomas Zimmermann
49. Let’s talk about AI
54. Why are you asking me questions?? Are you another child of mine???? Leave me alone, I’m just trying to THINK!!!!!
55. What the hell was I doing?
56. …or increase your cognitive load? Does it make things easier?
58. Your Mileage May Vary
61. “The productivity myth suggests that anything we spend time on is up for automation…. The importance and value of thinking about our work and why we do it is waved away as a distraction.” https://www.techpolicy.press/challenging-the-myths-of-generative-ai/ Eryk Salvaggio
62. In Summary
63. “Learning drains cognitive resources, but after you’ve learned it, using the now-automatic knowledge and skill is fast and effortless. Badass: Making Users Awesome Kathy Sierra
64. “Learning drains cognitive resources, but after you’ve learned it, using the now-automatic knowledge and skill is fast and effortless. Knowledge in the head trades slower learning time now for faster using time later.” Badass: Making Users Awesome Kathy Sierra
66. Your job is hard
67. Your job is hard Learn the bits of your tools that will make it easier
68. “The pleasure in thinking and doing things well is such a deep-wired human pleasure… and it feels (to me) diluted when it’s linked to productivity.” Slow Productivity Cal Newport
69. bit.ly/dp-ij Thank You! Win a copy of Getting to Know IntelliJ IDEA! bit.ly/4g4RIle