Posted by Andrew DeFaria on 10/25/05 00:15

Oli Filth wrote:

>> True, but OTOH, code completion makes people lazy. Text editors force
>> you to remember functions, which I think is a benefit.
>
> Are you serious?? ;)
>
> Where's the benefit in having to remember the exact syntax for
> hundreds/thousands of functions?

Of what benefit is there to be using functions that you don't know
intimately?!?

Perhaps it's clearest benefit is the realization that any such library
that has hundreds/thousands of functions is way to complex to be using!

> That's just a massive pain in the arse, and surely must slow you down
> considerably, especially when you only find you made a mistake at
> run-time... You might as well be programming in assembler if you like
> it raw! :)

Assembler would be quicker! Running that is. And yes some people still
program in assembler. http://grc.com/smgassembly.htm

> Admittedly, the benefit of class-views etc. must be somewhat limited
> for a dynamically-typed language like PHP. But in strongly-typed
> languages like C++, C# or Java that have *massive* APIs, intellisense
> and class-views etc. are an absolute god-send.
>
> IMO, being a good programmer is not about knowing the fine details of
> the language syntax; syntax is just a means to an end.

Being a good programmer is understanding the nature and workings of the
code you write and the code you use.

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