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Does anyone know if this is a valid point: If you can't code without a feature-rich text-editor, you might then ask: how good are you really at coding, and how

Does anyone know if this is a valid point: If you can't code without a feature-rich text-editor, you might then ask: how good are you really at coding, and how much skill are you off-loading to the editor? Because if you can't code with Windows' notepad.exe you need to re-evaluate your perceived skill and your /reliance/ on an editor.

b3kart 6y ago
Doubt there's anyone who literally can't code without a full-fledged IDE. There's just people who are used to certain conveniences, and it would take them longer to write code without them. I don't see anything particularly wrong with that. Most professionals use tools that make their job easier, and might get worse at doing the job without these tools -- but so what?
_benj 6y ago
I don't think that that's a fair statement. I remember when I was learning Linux and in KDE there was this huge "Developer Tools" section... IDEs, UI designers, documentations tools, etc. I opened each one of those tools and had absolutely no clue how to use that! Looking at them now, they seems quite easy and similar, but that is only because I know how to program now. Think about MS Access. It could be said that you don't know how to use relational DBs is you can't write perfect SQL on a napkin, but MS Access is certainly a skill and just because it can make it easier to view/manipulate data doesn't invalidate the need of skill to use the tool.
the_bigfatpanda 6y ago
In my opinion, I don't think its a valid point. The main skill of a developer is problem solving, whether its business logic or code related problems like structure, integrations of different layers etc. If you can code in a notepad, good for you, but if an IDE or something like VSC or Sublime increase your productivity then that's more valuable then remembering the exact names of methods or imports
bdcravens 6y ago
The features that make a difference are the ones that aren't text editing. Bare minimum is file management, but things like integrated git, terminal, linters, are good productivity improvements.
JustSomeNobody 6y ago
I don't think it is valid. Everyone has their own preferences. Some coding tasks are straight boilerplate and some are more general. When I'm banging out boilerplate I like to have and IDE that completes for me, but usually I don't like that when I'm coding up a difficult problem. I'm not wrong, I'm just different. Other people have other preferences and that's just fine.
romanovcode 6y ago
You could argue that plumber only needs adjustable spanner, otherwise he is a bad plumber. Sure, technically it would be possible to do most of the job. But it's stupid and ineffective.
kstrauser 6y ago
“If you can’t build a house with a hammer, you might then ask: how good are you really at building?” If I hired a carpenter and they showed up with a pair of pliers and nothing else, I wouldn’t let them start. Even if they were competent and motivated, I’d know they were going to get sucked into completely avoidable problems and they’d be way less time-efficient than a less competent peer who actually uses the appropriate tools. If I were interviewing a software engineer and they didn’t use at least some programming editor (I don’t really care which: Sublime, Emacs, VS Code, PyCharm, anything), I’d assume they were either not very good at this or that they’re so idiosyncratic their coworkers would wish harm on them. It’s not my job to tell a carpenter which hammer to use. But if they see a nail and reach for a spirit level, I’m sending them home.

b3kart 6y ago

Doubt there's anyone who literally can't code without a full-fledged IDE. There's just people who are used to certain conveniences, and it would take them longer to write code without them. I don't see anything particularly wrong with that. Most professionals use tools that make their job easier, and might get worse at doing the job without these tools -- but so what?

_benj 6y ago

I don't think that that's a fair statement. I remember when I was learning Linux and in KDE there was this huge "Developer Tools" section... IDEs, UI designers, documentations tools, etc. I opened each one of those tools and had absolutely no clue how to use that! Looking at them now, they seems quite easy and similar, but that is only because I know how to program now. Think about MS Access. It could be said that you don't know how to use relational DBs is you can't write perfect SQL on a napkin, but MS Access is certainly a skill and just because it can make it easier to view/manipulate data doesn't invalidate the need of skill to use the tool.

the_bigfatpanda 6y ago

In my opinion, I don't think its a valid point. The main skill of a developer is problem solving, whether its business logic or code related problems like structure, integrations of different layers etc. If you can code in a notepad, good for you, but if an IDE or something like VSC or Sublime increase your productivity then that's more valuable then remembering the exact names of methods or imports

bdcravens 6y ago

The features that make a difference are the ones that aren't text editing. Bare minimum is file management, but things like integrated git, terminal, linters, are good productivity improvements.

JustSomeNobody 6y ago

I don't think it is valid. Everyone has their own preferences. Some coding tasks are straight boilerplate and some are more general. When I'm banging out boilerplate I like to have and IDE that completes for me, but usually I don't like that when I'm coding up a difficult problem. I'm not wrong, I'm just different. Other people have other preferences and that's just fine.

romanovcode 6y ago

You could argue that plumber only needs adjustable spanner, otherwise he is a bad plumber. Sure, technically it would be possible to do most of the job. But it's stupid and ineffective.

kstrauser 6y ago

“If you can’t build a house with a hammer, you might then ask: how good are you really at building?” If I hired a carpenter and they showed up with a pair of pliers and nothing else, I wouldn’t let them start. Even if they were competent and motivated, I’d know they were going to get sucked into completely avoidable problems and they’d be way less time-efficient than a less competent peer who actually uses the appropriate tools. If I were interviewing a software engineer and they didn’t use at least some programming editor (I don’t really care which: Sublime, Emacs, VS Code, PyCharm, anything), I’d assume they were either not very good at this or that they’re so idiosyncratic their coworkers would wish harm on them. It’s not my job to tell a carpenter which hammer to use. But if they see a nail and reach for a spirit level, I’m sending them home.