Timeline for Do most programmers copy and paste code?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 7, 2011 at 14:54 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki | ||
| Jan 15, 2011 at 15:56 | history | edited | BenAlabaster | CC BY-SA 2.5 | deleted 8 characters in body |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 15:50 | comment | added | BenAlabaster | @John MacIntyre/@Anna Lear/@Pemdas Of course, when I'm writing in a blog post I try and make every so generic that it could never be copied verbatim. Anyone copying code from my blog should be prepared to put in the leg work to understand the code because there's little chance of it being usable posted format. | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 15:47 | comment | added | BenAlabaster | @John MacIntyre well let's analyse that for a second, it takes me 3 seconds to copy from one window, find the target window and paste it... it takes me considerably longer than 3 seconds to write it myself. Of course, I know that's not really what you're asking. If you understand what you're copying, then writing it yourself is proof of understanding and also compounds your ability to remember it for a later date - like exercises at the end of a chapter for practice. If you don't practice, you'll never remember it later. | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 15:45 | comment | added | BenAlabaster | @Anna Lear If the problem solves the exact problem you're having and it's in a blog post, I suppose technically it is fair game. I have mixed feelings about it - if it's to be used in your own codebase it should be modified to match the coding standards of the project you're pasting it into. In the most ideal world you should work to understand the code - in some extreme circumstances that may be beyond your abilities, but I'd say that you should always strive to understand it. | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 8:00 | comment | added | John MacIntyre | I like your comments on plagiarism & completely understanding the code, but do you really think it's more efficient to copy / paste somebody else's code, than to just write it yourself? I find that you will either not fully understand it and have issues later, OR your attempts to fully understand it will take longer than just writing it yourself. KWIM? | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 7:58 | comment | added | John MacIntyre | "Not targeting this answer at you John" ... I actually didn't think you were ... well at least not until I read this anyway. LOL | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 6:11 | comment | added | quickly_now | I don't have a problem with code from tutorials or blog posts being used - just understand what it does. Presumably if it was posted, its available. | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 3:37 | comment | added | Pemdas | I feel that if it is on a blog post then the author intended for it to be public, so if it is useful to you then it is fair game. However, I have hardly ever come across code snippets that could be copied verbatim. They usually require a little finagling. | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 3:07 | comment | added | Adam Lear♦ | What's your take on using code from blog posts that solve a specific problem you're having? Is physically copy/pasting the code what you'd consider a breach of ethics or would retyping the solution into your project fall into the same category? Does the size of "borrowed" code (i.e. a complete program/function vs a small snippet) affect your opinion? | |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 1:57 | history | edited | BenAlabaster | CC BY-SA 2.5 | added 433 characters in body |
| Jan 15, 2011 at 1:50 | history | answered | BenAlabaster | CC BY-SA 2.5 |