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We have already written about what you should not give to a programmer. But as they say, “if you criticize, make suggestions.” So we offer you a selection of gifts for programmers. And at the end we’ll tell you what our subscribers recommended.
Before you jump into a specific gift list, consider this:
- Is a person really involved in the IT industry? Have you often seen welders wearing a T-shirt with the words “Welded” on it, or an accountant’s car with a sticker saying “BALANCE HAPPENED!”? Perhaps it’s just work, but a set of fishing lures or a boat in a bottle would be a good gift.
- Is he really a programmer? Outsiders are accustomed to calling everyone involved in computer technology programmers. But there are a lot of IT specialties that are not directly related to programming, and a system administrator, for example, will not be too happy with the book “100 Examples in Java for Advanced”. Try to find out aspects of the job by asking colleagues or the person himself.
Subscription for delivery of ready-made food for a week
Not worrying about food is very cool because it saves time and effort. Therefore, if the recipient of the gift does not have any food restrictions, this gift will make his life more comfortable and enjoyable. Moreover, this is a great chance to try such a service.
Just find out the recipient’s preferences: maybe he is a vegetarian and doesn’t eat meat, or maybe he eats no more than 1500 kcal. Take this into account when choosing a menu.
Suitable for : Almost anyone.
Something from the hobby world
There are many people among IT specialists who love fictional universes. What does the person you want to please like?
Maybe he's a Star Wars fan? Or does he love comics? How about anime? Or something else?. Buy a programmer a souvenir from his favorite universe. Bed linen, notepad, book, mug. card holder or something else.
Fitness bracelet
Some experts suggest that the trend of 2021 will be the Internet of Bodies - it will be possible to collect and process more and more indicators of our body. Now every second person has a fitness bracelet or smart watch, and for good reason - they are convenient and useful. If your recipient doesn't already have one of these devices, they would make a good gift. And quite inexpensive.
The most popular options are Huawei Band 3 Pro or Xiaomi Mi Band 4.
Suitable for : Almost anyone.
Xiaomi Mi Band 4 can be bought here
Bonus: the coolest gifts that our mentors and the guys from the Solvery development department received
We talked to our mentors and the guys from the development department and found out what cool gifts they received or would like to receive:
- I've been wanting a mechanical keyboard for a long time, but I'm too scared to buy one
- tickets to professional conferences
- training with personal tutors
- business trip to Cyprus
- professional monitor
- SSD
- game console
- lifting table
- PC games
- books on related topics
- back massage certificate
- puzzles
- good jasmine tea
Smart home from Yandex
Yandex.Station and Yandex.Station Mini
As Yandex itself writes: “A smart speaker with Alice finds and plays music in good quality, recommends movies, controls a smart home and helps with business.” Many devices work with Alice - kettles, light bulbs, sockets, humidifiers. This means that you can control their operation with your voice. For example, turn off the light without getting out of a heated bed or turn on the kettle in the morning before you have to get out of this crib. The only problem with the Station is that by itself it is not very useful. It is good as part of a smart home, but for it you need to purchase the remaining elements. In addition, there is a great danger that the recipient is not interested in or needs a smart home at all.
Yandex.Station can be purchased here
You can buy Yandex.Station Mini here
Suitable for : lovers of smart technologies.
Several devices that work with Alice (but are also good on their own)
Kettle
A good option is the Redmond SkyKettle. Stylish, reliable and with a choice of temperatures.
You can buy it here
Lamp
A good choice here is Xiaomi Mi Smart LED Desk Lamp (White). Minimalistic and stylish, plus you can choose the temperature of the light - cooler and white for working during the day and warm yellow for evening time and reading.
You can buy it here
Humidifier
A must-have for comfortable work, especially in winter. Especially if the programmer wears lenses. In Russian apartments/offices in winter, humidity drops to 20%, although 40–60% is considered the norm. Low humidity not only causes discomfort - mucous membranes - eyes, nose, lips - and skin dry out more, but also increases your chances of getting sick (especially important for offices). In general, a humidifier is an investment in both the health and comfort of the programmer. Advice: when presenting, it makes sense to talk about why this gift is needed.
We use Xiaomi Smartmi Zhimi Air Humidifier 2 and we like it.
You can buy it here
Pleasant trifles
Simple and versatile gifts do not require large investments, but will definitely delight the recipient. It's quite difficult to make a mistake here.
Mug (from 300 rubles)
Stereotypical images did not bypass the developers. But if with a beard and a sweater everything has not been so clear for many years, then there is no doubt about a mug with a hot drink.
To make giving a gift less boring, choose an unusually shaped mug or print a cool themed print on it. You can add a tea or coffee set and a USB heater.
Mechanical puzzle, anti-stress toy or hand massager (from 100 rubles)
IT is a stressful thing. From time to time you want to switch your attention, calm down, collect your thoughts, or even have a little fun.
I love puzzles, they are good for stretching my brain. In addition to the classic Rubik's cube, there are many other interesting options, just Google it. Even if a person is not interested, I would give it as a gift: what if he gets involved?
Artyom
data scientist
I wouldn't mind a new anti-stress toy! It saves you in any unclear situation, and it’s just nice to hold it in your hands, even while you’re thinking about the next line of code!
Kate
front-end developer
Give the IT guy a rubber ducky. He will put it near the computer and ask her about bugs.
Vlad
tester
We are talking about the “duckling method” - a psychological method for solving problems from the book “Pragmatist Programmer”. A cool gift to show you're in the know.
Ergonomic wrist rest and massage mats (from 500 rubles)
Sometimes we experience stress not only emotionally, but also physically. But there are solutions here too. For example, a wrist rest will help evenly distribute the load on your hands and ensure the correct position of your hands while working, while massage mats will relieve muscle tension and stimulate blood circulation. Very useful for those who spend a lot of time in one position.
I had a stand like this. The first thing I noticed was that my wrists didn’t hurt as much after working for many hours. I'm thinking of buying a new one. Well, or wait until someone gives...
Vania
Java developer
I use a foot massage mat when I work while standing. He makes me shift from foot to foot - so I stand, dance. A kind of microcharging. You feel the flow of blood and then pleasant fatigue, the muscles do not become stiff.
Syoma
DevOps engineer
In addition to mats, there are headbands, pillows and bolsters that can be placed under the neck, lower back or knees.
Subscription to streaming services (from 150 rubles)
We still remember how 2021 changed our lives. But even without that, streaming was and remains in demand. Many have long preferred video services to television, and audio services to physical media. The most popular of them are Netflix, KinoPoisk HD, Spotify and Yandex.Music.
Arduino Kit
Arduino is a platform for creating your own automated devices. It includes both software libraries and electronic boards. If you want and have the skill, you can make anything out of it. Please note that programming skills alone are not enough to work with Arduino; you will need knowledge in engineering, circuit design, mechanics... What happens next depends only on your imagination.
If a person has never dealt with Arduino, look for ready-made kits for assembly - it will be easier and more interesting.
Suitable for : lovers of experiments, those interested in working with their hands.
You can buy it here
Knowledge
One-year PHP Developer training program from Skillbox. If your programmer friend does not yet know this popular programming language, then it’s time to give him an extensive program for learning PHP, consisting of 4 courses. Moreover, this language is in demand both among individual developers and web studios, and among real IT giants: VKontakte, Mail.ru, Avito - many popular sites on the RuNet are written in PHP.
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi is a real computer the size of a bank card. This thing was originally developed to teach the basics of computer science, but then it turned out that such a device could be found in many more applications. Based on this platform, you can build a media center, a web server, even your own cloud storage.
Suitable for : those who want to build a non-standard device, but do not want to bother with solder and rosin. Raspberry Pi is a full-fledged computer and connects to other equipment via standard connectors.
Getting ready for the New Year: a simple garland on Arduino
tproger.ru
Courses, learning platforms
Photo: apptractor.ru
Continuing the topic of knowledge started in the first paragraph, we would like to recommend another excellent source - online courses. Give such a gift and your friend’s excuses like “no time, “to go far” will no longer work. It’s great that now there are a lot of opportunities to educate yourself without leaving home, and what’s even nicer, without even leaving the couch. And online courses provide just such an opportunity. Great platforms for this type of gift are Coursera and Pluralsight . It’s convenient that you can give a set of specific courses or just a subscription.
Note board
An ideal tool for programmers (and not only). The range of applications is huge - from visualizing the flow of thoughts to recording information on the current sprint in development. And if it’s in the office, then you can also leave notes for colleagues or just draw on it. Take the largest possible one. When nothing fits in, it’s depressing.
Suitable for : Those who have a permanent workplace. Carrying this thing around is not very convenient.
You can buy it here
Gifts for a programmer friend
You can give almost the same thing to a friend who is a programmer as you can give to a colleague.
Gifts for the office
- Mini tabletop vacuum cleaner;
- table lamp;
- computer safety glasses;
- set of desktop statuses;
- organizer with compartments for office supplies;
- desktop calendar, endless;
- holder for pens and other accessories;
- clamps for computer wires;
- table mat;
- portable fan;
- remote control for computer.
For home
- Book about information technology;
- wall clock with light;
- original shaped mug;
- set of glasses;
- magnetic board with marker;
- alarm;
- book holder;
- massage pillow;
- foot warmer;
- wireless waterproof shower speaker;
- projector for smartphone.
Accessories and souvenirs
- Beautiful keychain;
- laptop bag;
- stylish wallet;
- waist bag;
- launch Box;
- watch box.
Bonus: We're entering dangerous territory.
Just recently we wrote that giving a programmer equipment related to his work is very dangerous - you can easily make a mistake. We still feel the same way, so think very carefully before choosing one of these gifts.
Logitech MX Master 3 Mouse
One of the coolest and most functional mice out there. Key features - it can connect to three devices at once, holds a charge for 70 days, has a bunch of programmable keys, and the surface under the thumb understands gestures. But the coolest thing is that it can move between the screens of two different devices without reconnecting, as if they were just multiple monitors of one computer. Just imagine: you can copy a file on one device, move your mouse to another screen and paste it there. Overall, this is a must see.
But we warn you again: think very carefully whether the recipient needs such a cool mouse. Maybe he uses the simplest device for 300 rubles and doesn’t need anything else.
You can buy it here
Headphones: wireless and noise canceling
Wireless headphones are a breakthrough in quality of life. But here it is important not to make a mistake in your choice, because bad wireless headphones can drive even the most balanced user crazy. We ourselves use Xiaomi Air Dots Pro 2, Honor FlyPods 2 and Apple AirPods.
Noise-canceling headphones are an even riskier gift, but can be very useful. Especially if the gift recipient complains that he is often jerked and distracted and if he needs silence to work. But such headphones may be uncomfortable for a person, so think ten times before buying.
Board games
"Imaginarium"
The board game "Imaginarium", according to data, is quite popular among programming teams. In the game, one of the players must come up with associations for the pictures from the set, and the others must guess what is depicted there. Imaginarium develops creative thinking and logic.
Buy
"Jackal"
“Jackal” is a strategy invented in the 70s at Moscow State University. According to the plot of the game, pirates landed on the island in search of treasure. The island itself is a playing field divided into cells. On any of them you can find a fort, a cannon, meet a crocodile, discover a bottle with a message, or dig up one of Captain Jackal’s treasures. The player's task is to find gold and transport it to the ship.
Buy "Jackal"
“Jackal: Archipelago” is a version of “Jackal” modified taking into account the opinions of players. Major changes include smaller islands, the division of each of them into three zones with different amounts of gold, and faster batches.
Buy "Jackal: Archipelago"
Technique
Photo: stereo.ru
This list would not be complete without one of the favorite gifts for any IT specialist - equipment. Moreover, such a gift is irreplaceable both at home and at work. A computer mouse and keyboard will not break a hole in your budget, but will help ensure comfortable work for your friend. Or maybe he loves high-quality sound and dreams of wireless headphones? Whatever you choose, good technique never hurt anyone.
Board games
Photo: oz.by
This gift will definitely please lovers of a fun and useful pastime. Give a desktop to IT professionals who prefer noisy companies and long, cheerful evenings to seclusion. Games like Codenames and Equivocals will delight experienced players and make any party interesting and full of excitement. And for beginners and lovers of the classics, Monopoly and Jenga are suitable.
Computer glasses
Programmers spend a huge amount of time in front of the computer and experience the unpleasant strain that the screen puts on their eyes. Any monitor or phone screen generates rays of the blue-violet spectrum, which negatively affect the health of the eyes and blood vessels of the head. In order to make working at a computer comfortable and not harmful to health, there are specially designed glasses that can be a useful gift for a person whose work takes place only in front of a monitor.
There are a huge number of computer glasses on the market. You can choose the desired shape and color of frames.
