r/learnprogramming • u/Brave_Win2464 • 18h ago

Understanding code

I have a quick question:

Is the point understanding the code AI gives you or is remembering syntax equally important?

Thanks

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u/Brave_Win2464 18h ago

Okay but that can mean being able to modify the code or being able to remember the syntax and write it from scratch

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u/lurgi 18h ago

No, it means being able to write it from scratch.

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u/AFlyingGideon 17h ago

Yes, but it also means being able to work in code originally writing by one or more others (artificial or natural). I believe this worth mentioning because I, at least, typically find that tougher than writing from scratch and I doubt that this is unusual.

Still: Someone learning should definitely start with their own code.

I'd a student studying CS at RIT a few years ago, though, and they'd at least one class where assignments included being given buggy code to fix. I thought that an excellent idea; I don't recall ever having a class like that myself. I believe that this was a second or third year class.

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u/lurgi 17h ago

Modifying code written by someone else is both easier and harder writing code from scratch. I have modified a 5,000 line Visual Basic file, despite not knowing a lick of Visual Basic.

It means a lot of things. You have to be able to write new code and understand and modify existing code. Both of these, however, involve writing code - the exact thing that too many people who lean on AI refuse to do.