The Problem with Live Streaming Code

Live streaming code has some fundamental flaws that are holding it back from becoming more successful.

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#benawad

[HopprTx]

don't you hate it when you accidently implement a bubble sort?

[tdevkw]

That guy from The Coding Train is the Ninja of programming live streams. It's the only person I find entertaining to watch coding

[swyxTV]

defense of livestreaming: i check twitter less when people are watching me

[RetoonHD]

Michael reeves has joined the chat with 30k viewers on porgramming a drill

[CodingGarden]

I feel personally attacked... just kidding. 😂 You make some very valid points. I've been struggling with this as my channel grows. 2 years ago when my livestreams would have less than 30 people watching it was very easy to get into "flow" mode and actually get some work done. Those older live streams have a lot of re-watch value and are some of the most watched videos on my channel. Now as my concurrent viewership exceeds 100 people I'm less and less productive and the VODs are less appealing to new viewers. I'm experimenting with ways to manage the chat to keep things engaging for viewers while remaining focused on the code, but its an uphill battle.

[brian_c_park]

The Coding Train and George Hotz is the only exception... they somehow magically make it entertaining and it’s the community that makes it enjoyable

[carbon]

I like watching people write code on Twitch for the background noise. There's something about hearing someone talk about solving their own problems that gets me motivated to work on my own projects. Watching Randall build his game live has the same vibe as watching ZFG grind OoT speedruns for several hours; I don't have to completely understand all the tricks and nuances of what they're doing, just the fact that they are being productive and making progress pushes me to get things done as well.

[edipyuksel]

I had a problem with setting up the timing of youtube live streaming (somehow, it would not not allow me to change the hour to the next day), and I came across your video. I am not a coder. The last time I coded was in late 1970s and the programming languages were BASICS, COBOL and FORTRAN. But, after listening to you for a few seconds, I continued to listen to you. I am impressed by your articulation, enunciation, and maturity in explaining issues to educate your audience. Yet, I learned something. During my live interviews and discussions, I will not more distract myself with reading and responding chats. That is common sense, but sometimes we need to be reminded by others whit uncommon attention. Thanks Ben Awad.

[ZahhibbDev]

I usually watch people livestreaming coding projects because it kind of motivates me to work on my stuff, and it's a nice kind of white-noise that puts me into the zone/flow because what I am hearing is people tackling their own problems in their projects and how they solve them.

[bigbonker]

I agree that it's a bad place for a beginner to learn, but as an intermediate programmer, it's actually been super helpful for me. I get a lot of small tips that help me a lot. It's the kind of stuff no one would ever think to make a video on, but it's still important to know.

[CodingAfterThirty]

Love your channel, always a lot of great and valuable stuff. I am over thirty and getting into coding has been my second career choice.

I finally got hired, and I must say, that your channel and others like yours have been really helpful.

Honestly, I am jealous, so young and so smart.

But honestly, I really learned a lot from your channels.

For anyone on a fence or maybe getting into coding late in life, don’t give up. Keep it up.

I have been learning to code on and off for a really long time and finally got hired.

So I can definitely say it’s possible. I am self taught and way over 30 years old.

Thanks again for all you do.

[hnasr]

Well said Ben, Coding a project (especially for the first time) requires deep thinking and focus. So live stream yourself coding a project for the first time is slow. I would say if you have built the app before and you are just building it again live from scratch that might be possible because in your head you know what you are about to build. Even then you will run into annoying debugging errors that take 40 minutes to fix as you stated.


keep up the great content.

[_ashout]

I like the way Jon Gjengset does his live streams. They are pre-prepared projects that he goes over for educational purposes and during the stream he answers peoples questions, he later posts the stream to youtube.
With a traditional youtube video, you don't have the live feedback to figure out where people get confused and it more closely mimics an actual lecture/TA session you have in school.

Obviously I don't think this format will be as popular as a game live stream but they are completely different things, so no point in comparing them really

[aayush_dutt]

I hate it when people only list out the problems and don't suggest possible solutions.

[AdrianTwarog]

Yeah I agree with this, a few good streamers I noticed who did live streaming were the ones that did it as teachers, and sat down and taught concepts and ideas to viewers generally chatting, rather than coding how a project. I tried a few times but the points you mentioned were valid. Instead I took it into a series on youtube.

[webdevmichael]

One skill that you develop when you do more work as a developer and start to become a senior dev is to think and speak.
When I'm with a junior dev I not just show him/her how to solve but how I think about the problem and what my thought process is.
I think this is one point where live streams could be way better than simple lessons because usually, they are in the format: we have a problem and here is the solution.


I think the content just needs to adopt for a live stream.
Live stream content could be also problem solving together where we have a new challenge.
Explaining to new people what we are trying to solve.


I think it is possible to live stream coding but we as a community have not found yet the right way of doing it.

[redyau_]

What we did with our project, is that one team member did the coding, and I, being familiar with the project and codebase as well, got into a VSCode liveshare with them, and streamed that. I interacted with chat, and explained everything as the code was written, while the other team member could do the actual work in peace.
I think this way it was alright to watch.

[frederikja]

I recently found a good place for coding livestreams. Im maintaining a quite large OSS project, and we have some difficulty involving the users in the development process of the library. So i started lifestreaming some of the development of the project. This means people can come and hang out, ask more about quickly about issues etc. It also allows me to give a tour of the entire project really nice and quickly without having to spend hours in a discord chat going through it.

I do realise though that this doesnt apply to everyone, and your points are definitely very valid. Just thought i would share my recent experience.

[Luxcium]

Can I say how much I love him ❤️ listening to Ben is always so much appeasing and kind of calming...I asked on of my friend recently why she thinks I love this youtuber so much she said he looks smart its true... but I think it's because he talks with so much assurance about anything even when he is questioning himself he is always doing it the smart way I am in love with this youtube channel so much!!!

[tomcoop]

Awesome video. This also confirms some scientific studies about workplace culture. For every interruption (email, talking, meeting, etc.), it takes a person about 30 minutes to mentally return to where they were at in their thought process with their current task.