Longest you've been stuck on a programming related problem where you didn't have anyone that could help you?

Cuz I was sure I was doing it the wrong way, so I fix my way of thinking rather than throwing on SO

Unless it is at work, then I don't waste time and go ahead and ask if it took more than 30 minutes

If architecture count than 19 days

My longest stint was ~3 months. I was working with a proprietary embedded system which only one other person knew about and then left which is why I was put on the project. That 3 months was figuring out everything by trial and error and then actually solving the problem they wanted me to solve.

3 days. I was unable to move ahead. Each day I just sat there looking at the code, wondering if I’ll ever be able to figure it out. I realised that I was overstressed. Shutdown my machine, went out for a movie, had a nice dinner with my mom and hit the sack early. Woke up the next morning with a calm mind. Went to office and solved the problem within 5 mins. I guess we all need to wind down a bit from time to time 🙂