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Code suggestion in IDE are poisonous

Saturday, July 23, 2011 - 15:41

When I first started out working as a web programmer, I used to love those auto code suggestion, especially when coding CSS using Adobe DreamWeaver or Coda, the tag just pop up as soon as you type the first few characters. This is good, but too good that it can be poisonous. What tends to happen is that, it makes you rely on it, it stop you from trying to remember the tag because it's always there for you, it's "killing you softly".

Some people might argue that it saves a developer a lot of time typing out all those repetitive CSS code. True, it does saves some times, but how much times? Is it worth it? In my opinion, no, and here's why.

I discovered this the hard way a few years back when I was in a final stages of a job interview, a practical test. I was given some CSS question to complete, and to my shocking discoveries I could not remember how to spell some of the tags that I need to use, I was so heavily depending on the auto code suggestion that I forgot how to "background-colour"? or is it "background-color", we all know what the answer is, but in the heat and pressure of the moment this could really demolish your confidents, had I been typing this out all along I would know exactly what it is. 

This is just a small example, but you get the point, I am sure the company that gave the test wouldn't be so picky about it, however when it comes down to selecting between you and another developer, mistakes like that can really set you apart.

I now uses TextMate with all code suggestion turn off, after a few years at it I find myself a more "solid" developer, I can really say I "hand code" every CSS tag, I am confident that the tag I wrote are correct, if I am unsure about anything, its just a Google search away. To me, learning programming is like learning a muscal instrument or Kung Fu, good basic foundation is the key. There's no short cut to hitting that notes, there's no short cut on how you throw a punch, it takes a lot hours to master those skills, and when you do, you can be sure your confidents would be over the roof because your foundation is rock solid, and for those that think they've saved some times with the code suggestion, well, I can proudly say that my typing speed are lightning fast :-)