[thelist] real men code by hand...

Chris Blessing webguy at mail.rit.edu
Sat Mar 16 18:33:01 CST 2002


Nick I couldn't agree more; not only does coding by hand reduce the amount
of development time if you already know the concepts and syntax of the
particular language you're working with, but it also decreases the would-be
learning curve of any new "tools" you may have used otherwise.

Control is a big issue.  It's very important to KNOW what's going on behind
the scenes, especially as you get deeper into a project such as a shopping
cart system or message board, etc.

Of course one of the best ways to learn from the beginning is to use said
tools to generate code which you can then further refine and shape according
to your particular style.  I learned HTML by using Netscape 2.0 Gold. =)
Once I had that down I proceeded to write my very first website, all by
hand.  Gaudy and annoying as it was, I learned more than I could have
possibly otherwise by sitting down with some 400-page+ book or going to some
4 hour class.

So on one hand you have control and customization, and "l33tn3ss"... but on
the other hand, you can effectively learn by example and build the examples
yourself, so it's a trade-off for sure.  I tend to be anti-wysiwyg (I'm a
big fan of textpad for Java and Homesite for HTML/Javascript, and I use the
code editor of Visual Interdev for ASP) but believe me they can definitely
help you out if you're in a bind or new to a particular "genre" of coding.

My $0.015.

Chris Blessing
webguy at mail.rit.edu
http://www.330i.net

>I'd be interested to start a thread on the virtues and vices regarding
>our coding preferences.




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