Cognitive load

concentration

how exhausted does your brain get?

how to reduce cognitive load https://github.com/zakirullin/cognitive-load

• use variables in conditionals, e.g. if valid_input and is_connected
• avoid nesting ifs
• avoid nesting inheritance. Prefer composition over inheritance. see video

Backlinks¶

• Pyblish issues
  • a high cognitive load due to the complexity of the code. mix in support for old style plugins, and new style plugins resulting in nearly double code. Since both are still supported and used.
• keep it simple
  • keeping it simple reduces cognitive load
• mirror - thomas j frank notes - hyperfocus
  • “When your brain is even slightly resisting a task, it will look for more novel things to focus on.” cognitive load
• cognitive ease
  • reducing cognitive load
• connascence
  • cognitive load
    programming
    code review
• social media is distracting
  • cognitive load
• most tools are not easy to install
  • But I find myself still with resistance on installing a tool, even if I made it. It takes effort to recall where to install it. To browse to the folders, and check them, or to come up with the command that installs the dependencies. I know how to do it, but my brain gives me resistance, because of the cognitive load.
• don’t distract me with your tools
  • I don’t want to see other teams tools on my shelf. That’s silly!
• Python namespace
  • it takes more cognitive load IMO to understand, and to plan your code architecture.
• Windows lock screen - remove text
  • The text on the Windows lock screen often contains news, facts & ads.
    increasing cognitive load every time you log in.
• complexity
  • Something complex is like mental clutter, it takes more cognitive load to understand the whole picture.
    More parts to the whole means more combinations of states, leading to more unpredictability.
• contract (software)
  • a contract defines what to expect.
    this reduces cognitive load
• the drawbacks of categorizing
  • When writing notes we run in the same problem. Often we start with multiple folders, 1 for each category. And we organize our files in the folders.
    I start to waste a lot of time thinking which folder to put it in. This is a cognitive load with zero productive value, and can be avoided by putting all notes in a single folder. Instead of trying to organize and choosing a single category (folder) for the file, we can create an infinite amount of links inside a note to other notes. This means a note can be linked to multiple categories. 1 note for each category.
• unimenu - replace configs with python module
  • The menu config feels buried in our Maya library, we have to remember where it lives (more cognitive load, or read the code to figure out.
  • we need to keep both of these links in mind while editing code, or the hookup might break.