An example functions as both a working piece of code, and also an illustration. I mean you might as well say ball-and-stick models are bad for chemists, because

An example functions as both a working piece of code, and also an illustration. I mean you might as well say ball-and-stick models are bad for chemists, because they should understand from the text alone. There's a lot of technology to understand and absorb, and I'll take any tool I can get to help me.