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Coding without searching basically boils down to coding without docs, and that seems pretty self-defeating. Sure - If you just can't resist Stack Overflow's d
by ry_ry 10y ago
Coding without searching basically boils down to coding without docs, and that seems pretty self-defeating.
Sure - If you just can't resist Stack Overflow's dubious charms, or find yourself updating your LinkedIn profile three times a day then cutting the hardline has some merit, but they aren't inherently programming issues.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago> Sure - If you just can't resist Stack Overflow's dubious charms I rarely find useful material on StackOverflow when the problem isn't learn to do X with technology Y quickly (although there are a few very nice canonical-answers which I have book-marked for reference). I don't think a lot engineering time is spent in that though..
- imtringued 10y agoI generally use StackOverflow to fix "stupid quirk #X" in technology Y. If those quirks didn't exist I would barely even use google.
- gnur 10y agoFor me the most useful part of StackOverflow is exactly the cut and dry answers for quickly doing X with technology Y. When designing and implementing complex systems, this allows me to cut down the time it takes to remember certain things (like how do I left pad a string with enough spaces to make it align nicely) and keep my focus on the greater whole.
- Jaruzel 10y ago> Coding without searching basically boils down to coding without docs, and that seems pretty self-defeating. He does mention though, was that back in the day he used programming books, which would have contained example snippets explaining most problems. I started coding pre-internet. All you had was your text mode IDE or editor, and if you were really lucky, it had a basic searchable help function that you just kept attacking with keywords until you stumbled on a function or principle that solved your problem. These days, everyone goes to the top result on StackOverflow and looks at the answer, then thinks 'ok, that'll do' without actually seeing if the answer is actually the most optimal. Pre-internet, without that level of group-think, there'd be multiple ways to solve problem X, and each programmer approached it differently. Some methods would be good, and some bad, but by working it out yourself made you a better coder in the long run. This is why I think that older programmers have better analytical brains due to their long history of not being able to 'just look it up' - you had no-one to help you; if you couldn't solve it yourself, it didn't get solved. I lost track of the many early ideas I abandoned because the routines needed were beyond my coding ability (for me, graphics coding was/is my Achilles heel). Is that a good thing or not? I don't know. But what I will say is that starting to learn to code with the internet at your fingertips, may make someone a lazy coder, but it's hard to ignore that infinite well of knowledge...
- jon-wood 10y ago> These days, everyone goes to the top result on StackOverflow and looks at the answer, then thinks 'ok, that'll do' without actually seeing if the answer is actually the most optimal. Maybe some people do, but I don't know anyone good who does that. They might go to Stack Overflow to get an idea of what direction they should be heading in, but they'll then use that information to build a solution that fits the overall system they're working on.
- Jaruzel 10y agoAgreed. I was generalising to make a point. I do think though that a LOT of 'coders' out there are just adept at copy-pasting.
- bnastic 10y agoAlso your compiler/libraries/OS used to come with some pretty exhaustive documentation and lots of reference books. We're talking thousands of pages here. Armed with that, and some carefully chosen 3rd party books (who can forget Norton!) you were pretty well equipped to attack programming problems of that era.
- sklogic 10y agoYou know, quality software comes with local documentation. Some even with a printed documentation. You do not need internet for those.
- ry_ry 10y agoI'm primarily a frontend dev, the vast majority of libraries and and browser APIs don't include offline documentation.
- sklogic 10y agoWell, I sad "quality" software. There is no quality whatsoever in the web frontend, unfortunately. Piles upon piles of an overengineered convoluted mess, but no "quality" code which can be even distantly compared to the glorious libraries of the past.