Student Question

[Drew]

I am a student and I have some questions for developers and programmers. When I do a programming assignment I always look at code and a lot of the time and copy and paste or reuse code. I have gotten away with that so far, but to be a good programmer should I be able to sit and write a program without any other type of aid other then what is in my head? I guess what I am trying to ask is am I cheating myself by understanding the code I am copying and pasting and how it works or should I be trying to memorize all of the syntax for as many alogorithm's in the programming language I am learning. I guess, what is the best way to learn how to program? What should I study the most to be productive in school and when I am employed as a programmer? Most of my problems I have with know are code implementation, but I have been told by a experienced programmer that syntax is easy and that the real problems are understanding the logic that you have to understand to be a good programmer.

[Spectre5000]

As long as you understand how the code works, and more importantly WHY it works, then you should cut and paste all the code. That is the reason programming has become object oriented - Reusable code modules. Although you should be able to write your own code for just about any situation for your preferred language, I would suggest using the cut and paste method ONLY AS LONG AS YOU UNDERSTAND HOW AND WHY THE CODE WORKS. If you don't understand how the code works, or why, you aren't learning anything.

[TruthAdjuster]

Have you heard the quote,"Believe...in the Power of Another!"? At the heart of a programmer which separates him from the rest is the way he believes about the construct of things around him. Either he believes that he can create everything from scratch or he begins to believe in the Power of Another. For me, I most admired those who possess the rare skill to use existing constructs and use it to his own advantage. This is the most highest wisdom of all- to be able to adapt to different environments and use things. The low-type, primitive-type are those who believes in themselves too much and doesn't care others. You see, the world of software development is comprised of so many varied concepts and ideas. He who chose to be alone will not survive. The Mindset of believing in another is very hard to develop when you were nortured in low-level languages. You are on the right track my friend. Obsession to lower-level logic is not the favorite for the mind with high abstraction. As long as that block serves your purpose...then use it. Have you known anyone who confused himself on how the atoms of a pencil were formed when he used it to write?

[AtulSharma]

Hi,
I know iam a lil'(??) late in posting a reply ...
Personally, i feel that cut-'n-paste is a better way of programming .. makes things work faster, of course one has to understand the working of the code as well if he is to benifit from it .....
But, on the other hand, cut'nPaste makes one loose touch with the syntax etc ... of a language ... Sometimes i find that iam unable to write simple syntaxes without MSDN open or any other such tool .. This in itself is a big drawback ....
In short, go in for cut'nPaste if things are urgent .. but don't lose the habit of starting code urself from scratch ....
Luv,
Atul!

[Captain Nuss]

Amen, brother!

But I have a question: You spoke of what separates one programmer from another. But, what dou you think separates programmers from others? There must be something which results in this "passion" of dealing with the code. I have this passion since I started reading my first book about programming and learning my first language, back in good-old DOS times. But I still can't figure out why we are so interested in things other people would just consider "extremely boring". So?

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