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Q for Programmers: Why search for code, when you can sweat and code yourself

3 points by elliptical ↗ HN
Being a programmer myself, I understand the path of how the application is to take, visualize and then write the code.<p>I got a programmer here who downloads classes from the internet and uses them and never writes the code himself. What is the psychology behind such an act. Does he not know programming, or he is just lazy.<p>I want to understand the reason, why he does not write but uses others classes, please exclude the fact its there and need not have to write the code.

8 comments

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ColinWright
Do you want the work to get done? What's the fastest way?

If I want a robust, reliable, thoroughly tested library routine, it's better to pull it from somewhere else, provided I know it's been hammered by others. Why waste time writing something that's available? Why not save my time, effort and skill for writing the things that are specific to the job at hand?

elliptical
Not when you have suffered a hack. You could pull a code out from google, it would be safe, but certainly not from anyone.
ColinWright
But that's just a question of due diligence. Anyone who pulls random code from unknown sources with no evidence of testing or competence gets what they deserve.

Yes, there are people who seem never to write code, and there are others who seem endlessly to re-invent the wheel to no good purpose.

I guess I just don't understand what you're asking. So I'll give up.

radicalbyte
There's a difference between taking random code from stackoverflow or blogs and using a tried and trusted library. The latter is good: you're getting code that is well understood and probably with less bugs. The former is generally a sign of a bad developer. Someone who doesn't know what they're doing, so just pastes random bits of code from the internet until it works, without ever understanding why.
elliptical
Radical: There is policy followed, do not use code from the internet, just write your own code. Forgetting the above, I just want to know the psychology part, on why would someone keep taking libraries from the internet, after being repeatedly said not to do so
ColinWright
You never said anything about said programmer being told not to do it.

Don't mess about - ask what you really want.

logos
I got my own theory, when i started programming, i was writing all the code by myself, just to understand all, but when it comes to write n-th time datepicer, or so, i use my old code, or download some new fancy good working code just to save my time, cuz i exactly know how it works. I dont get it bad to do so, as long, as you are good to write all this things by yourself :D But it can be true than in lack of skill someone can just google "awsome stuff doing source code" and use it, is this bad ? Its bad for programmer, who wont learn how to do it, but its $$ for company that save time.