What should I know about narcotics such as cocaine or Adderall, if I want to take them to be a better computer programmer?

It sounds like you're in the wrong place, or here for the wrong reasons. The shit that we are expected to know and do is fucking endless in our career. You sound really stressed out. From your tone here, it sounds like you don't like what you do, and are really angry. No matter what you do, what "productivity" drug you take, you're gonna fuck yourself up. I take ADHD medicine because I actually have ADHD. It helps me focus. I need it to function properly. And besides, what shit are you talking about? Let's take a look at Tumblr's job board on 37 Signals for a http://jobs.37signals.com/jobs/12005: Tools we like: PHP5 MySQL taken to its furthest extent Prototype and jQuery (along with hand-crafted JS) Varnish and memcached Asynchronous requests and queues (frontend and backend) Ruby git and GitHub You should have at least one programming language under your belt you know well. MySQL is a must. jQuery is also a must. AJAX, for this day and age, is a totally reasonable expectation. Ruby, you should at least know about. And git, is a total must for just about any job. What I'd suggest is taking time off to cool off. In that time, you can build up your skills. Start a small, personal project and incorporate some of the tools mentioned. Read up on the concepts, and look at the documentation for these languages. When you build a project you are passionate about, and don't go hunting the money, you learn a lot, and you regain your passion, plus you learn a lot. The money will follow after your passion. Good luck, and don't let your anxiety get the best of you.

OP, listen to me carefully. Do not take cocaine.  That stuff will make you look ugly and your heart will be put under tremendous stress.

Adderall sucks. You'll quickly build up a tolerance after frequent use, making it useless. You'll feel utterly lethargic the following day. After all, what goes up must come down (crashing hard). It also very expensive. Most people I know sell it for about $5 a pop. The money adds up after a while. Trying running instead. Lifting weights is alright, but nothing is more invigorating than running a mile or two. I find that running a few miles really cranks up my creativity and energy levels. Best part is, aside from good running shoes and clothes, this activity is absolutely free.

the first thing to know is adderall and cocaine are not narcotics. narcotics make you sleepy -- e.g. opioids. you should know that in the US, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall is prescribed by doctors for ADHD and narcolepsy. you probably want to consult this quora thread too:

Is your passion dead? I don't think either of them are necessary and if I were you I'd stay away from it (or the thought of it) altogether. If you can't code until you are high you are in the wrong job. Coders thrive on the 'coding rush' more than the 'cocaine rush' :)

What you need to know about narcotics such as cocaine or Adderall, is simply that you should avoid them at all costs. They destroy neurons, and neurons are the main ingredient for smartly written software. If you feel incapable for being in the top, do not worry, there are plenty of room fro every one. You may not get the super sexy jobs, but there are plenty of jobs in computing and surely you will find one good for you. Just remember there will always be people better and worst than you, concentrate on living your life, let the rest of the world be. And what about working by yourself instead of getting a job? That may just be better for you.

Oh man.  As someone who stopped taking my psych meds so I could be smarter during interviews, I totally feel you on this one. If you're going to take drugs, I think the least risky strategy would be to take some Adderall before your interviews, but not take it long-term.  Of course you should try it a couple times beforehand so you know how it affects you.  The side effects are different for each person and some of my friends swear by it while others can't stand the side effects. I wouldn't take cocaine, though.  That stuff's addictive. Also, you should really look into other ways of improving your programming ability.  If you read the advice on the Internet, it'll feel like there's too much to do.  People say you have to read five books and contribute to open-source projects and learn your algorithms really, really well.  But honestly, you can probably 80/20 it.  Doing just one thing on the list will probably improve your skills substantially and will be less demoralizing than trying to do it all at once.