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> Zed advocates for learning is to type, (instead of copy and paste) The copy an paste option is always attractive, as it gives the impression of writing lots
by jussij 12y ago
> Zed advocates for learning is to type, (instead of copy and paste)
The copy an paste option is always attractive, as it gives the impression of writing lots code quickly. But I agree with Zed in that it leads to a false premiss of being productive.
Coding is all about typing in code, not copy and pasting code.
It's actually quite hard to type in lots of code without generating compiler errors. But it is quite easy to just copy and paste code without error.
So the copy an paste option leads to a false sense of coding ability.
- tragic 12y agoI think the bigger issue is that coding is about knowing what the hell you're doing. Copying a snippet manually forces you, as a side effect, to read the code, and read it more slowly than you otherwise would. You notice the limits of your understanding more quickly, and can try to fill them in. I didn't learn with Zed's books, but I did (and do) avoid copying and pasting anything I didn't (don't) understand, and would recommend that approach to any newbie.