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Programming Socks: Is it high time for thigh-highs? An

investigation into the perceived unreasonable effectiveness of
Programming Socks on productivity levels in the field of Software
Engineering
Ian F.V.G. Hunter

Unaffiliated/Disowned, Ireland

Abstract
Programming Socks are an essential piece of equipment for any respectable software engineer. How-
ever, there is limited research on the level of impact that they have on practitioners. In this paper we
investigate the claim that Programming Socks are a low-cost high-impact upgrade to engineers’ wardrobes
and find that they have much untapped potential.

1 Introduction
Programming Socks are thigh length or “Thigh-High” socks, commonly striped but not as a critical necessity
(See Figure 1 for an example). They have been long-hailed as essential items to improve programmer
performance, code quality as well as job satisfaction.
Other related items that are known to be useful for programming include: cat tails, cat ears, mittens
and mini-skirts.1 Surprisingly, garments traditionally designed for the duties of a French housemaid are
purportedly equally effective — if not more so — in the realm of software development. According to
informal polls with select focus groups2 , public opinion suggests that the attire helps to promote ‘clean code’
practises.
Other innovations of note include replacing the long-beloved practise of talking to rubber ducks to assist
in debugging issues[3]. A cuddlier substitute has been found in the popular Swedish furniture store IKEA.
The plush shark ”Blåhaj” appears to be more appealing to both new and old developers alike. The new
practise of verbal debugging with these shark toys has been coined as “Blah-Blah-Blåhaj”3 , but the term
has yet to catch on.

Figure 1: An example Amazon listing [1]. 900+ bought in the last month4 . 4.4/5 average star rating

1 It is often misunderstood that the widespread disappointment over the open-souce event ‘Hacktoberfest’ was about the

removal of the complimentary participatory shirts, but the refusal to provide skirts, which would have been an investment into
open-souce quality for years to come.
2 i.e. My friends
3 by me, just now
4 December 2023

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 Code Visible
12%

Terminal Open 75.7%

12.2%
Nothing Of Technical Note

Figure 3: Evidence of coding on-screen

3.2 Colour Preference

A wide variety of Programming Socks are available. However, there are some general trends in the space.
Striped socks are significantly more popular than non-striped socks (As shown in FIgure 4) and there is a
clear preference for some basic colours 5 - black, white, pink.

Striped

76.4%

23.6%

Non-Striped

Figure 4: Popularity of Stripes

It was surprising to discover that rainbow socks were not chosen as often as other colour combinations,
because it is obviously the best choice.

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25

20

15

10

0
Black White Pink Blue Red Purple Rainbow

Figure 5: Colour Preferences

4 Appendix
We include other findings of interest below.

4.1 Amazon Search Listings

When searching for Programming Socks on Amazon.com, the majority of listings are correctly indexed as
thigh-high socks. There are a limited amount of novelty socks with a programming theme 8 and an equal
amount of novelty socks that were unrelated to programming9 . There were also a few shoes and gloves.
We decided to not divide Programming Socks into sub-categories, such as ones that had paw pads on
their toes, fluff and glitter or small teddy bear faces at their peak.

Novelty On-Topic

Programming Socks 21.9%

47.1%

5.7%
Other

25.2%

Novelty Off-Topic

Figure 6: Amazon Listings for Programming Socks

8 “I
will NOT fix your computer”, other hilarious jokes and socks with logos of programming languages, code, etc.
9 Such as socks that make your feet look like chicken’s feet, or to fool people into thinking your feet are being eaten by
infeasibly proportioned crocodiles.

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5 References
References
[1] Amazon.com: DRESHOW Extra Long High Thigh Socks Striped Over Knee Thin Tights Long
Stocking. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/DRESHOW-Striped-Tights-Stocking-Warmer/dp/
B096M3LMCT/ (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[2] Amazon.com: Programming Socks. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/programming-socks/s?k=

programming+socks (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[3] Debugging, R.D. Rubber duck debugging, – Rubber Duck Debugging – Debugging software with a rubber
ducky. Available at: https://rubberduckdebugging.com/ (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[4] KDESOCKS-bin/Lemmmmmmmmmmysocks • R/unixsocks (no date) reddit. Available at: https://

old.reddit.com/r/unixsocks/ (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[5] (The quest for Programming Socks: R/brisbane - reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/
brisbane/comments/urbq0c/the_quest_for_programming_socks/ (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[6] Programming Socks - Google Trends. Available at: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?

date=all&q=programming%20socks&hl=en (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

[7] Number of software developers worldwide in 2018 to 2024 https://www.statista.com/statistics/

627312/worldwide-developer-population/ (Accessed: 27 January 2024).

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