Took me a full 2 years to realize I didn't need to memorize every single function in Python

I kept copying code from tutorials thinking I had to remember the exact syntax for things like list comprehensions, and then my buddy asked why I wasn't just using the official docs as a cheat sheet.

2 comments

2 Comments

bethj442d ago

Man, I used to be totally on the other side of this. I thought you had to memorize everything or you weren't a real programmer. I'd spend hours trying to remember weird function names and parameters. Then I hit a wall on a project and my buddy told me the same thing - just keep the docs open. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Now I look stuff up constantly and my code is way better for it. The real skill is knowing what's possible, not remembering every single detail.

dakota_murphy902d ago

Did you ever read that study about how expert chess players don't actually memorize every possible move? They just know patterns and what the board can do. It's the same with coding - your brain's better off knowing that the function exists somewhere rather than trying to hold the whole language in your head. I had a coworker who refused to use autocomplete because he thought it was cheating, and he spent twice as long on every ticket as the rest of us. The docs are just your extended memory now.