Coding from scratch

I'm wondering: how many of you can code from complete scratch in languages such as php or c++?


I find myself at the start of any project, completely clueless as to what to type. So I have code backups saved for copy and paste purposes.

Example. I have done several programs using mysql and php, but if you asked me to type the connection code out right now, I would be clueless. I would, however, be able to point out any errors if I saw the already written code.

Just wondering if any of you have the same problem as I do, or if you just type away.

Same problems unfortunatly, some people seem to think i can't code because of it...

Uhh oops. I meant to put this under general developer. Could someone please move it?

I can get the skeleton of a C++ program coded from memory, but I often have to look up the names of STL things and what headers they are in. Things are much easier in .NET with intellisense - you just have to have a basic idea of what namespace something is in to find it.

i code from scratch in classic ASP ... but been doing it for 10 years now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kfcSmitty

Uhh oops. I meant to put this under general developer. Could someone please move it?

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Done. :)

It takes experience and repetition to code mainly from memory. It doesnt reflect upon the true knowledge but more about performance in writting code. It may take longer for you to write an app vs writting it from memory and that doesnt mean anything about the quality of your code.

I write almost all my VB 6 posts freehand in the quick reply box. I find myself able to write and debug code in memory while doing other things like driving or "trying" to sleep. Now when it comes to .NET code I have less experience with it so it is required to use intellisense and searching msdn etc.

The bottom line is that it just will take longer to write the app by searching or copy/paste vs. writting it from memory.

Why would you want to code from scratch? If you have a working something that you can use to paste into a new project, would it really be better to start over? I have functions which are specific to each program, but which are structured in ways common to several, so when I need one, I just copy it over and make changes to it.

OO was thought to promote reuse. Frankly, Ctrl+c / Cntrl+v promotes more reuse than OO ever could.

Are we talking about just knowing the syntax of functions and properties etc and manually coding it or like shaggy says, writting a class and reusing it in different apps?

I have some stuff that I reuse like an all API commondialog module as to eliminate the ocx for it but I wont type and recreate it under each app. Thats just insane lol. :D