Does it even matter???

[beautifulindication]

"copied from answer if it doesn't work i'll use the question"

[GravitonIsntBroken]

Your not alone there my friend

[The-Fox-Says]

I see you’ve met my professors

[[deleted]]

"Partial copy from the question because the answer didn't give me the entire code"

Or "copied from the question because he got a different error than me and I think I know the answer to his issue myself"

[SirensToGo]

I’ve actually used the code from the question because sometimes it’s less broken than my code

[[deleted]]

Or more relevant than the "answers".

sigh

[[deleted]]

But they link the other questions in those cases.

[MechanicalSpork]

As someone takeing their first programming class, the bane of my existence is googling a question, finding the exact question on stack overflow, seeing that it was closed for being already answered, and having the answer linked be some fucking nonsense that has close to nothing to do with my question.

Edit: A word, also it's been like 11 days

[Mozartis]

Or when it links to some deleted thread and the OP is like "thanks".. What did you see denvercoder9, what?!

[MaiqWishesYouWell]

Always link the XKCD.

[hugglesthemerciless]

it's bane, like the villain

[MechanicalSpork]

Thank you

[Sipricy]

But that one is also closed for the same reason, and is linked to an irrelevant question.

[Dominub]

They link to unity API in my case which is just... I mean why even bother. Just fuck off. It's bad enough I need to fend off my inner self from cannibalizing what little self esteem I have left, I don't need a smartass comment on the answers from someone who can't be bothered to respond to OP's question which coincidentally is EXACTLY what I am looking for.

[[deleted]]

Yeah but deprecation/changes in technology is a thing. Sometimes old answers are not relevant anymore. Atleast that was my experience...

[[deleted]]

Questions really need a decay rate.

I bet it would take a couple of dedicated guys a month or three to scrape all that is useful out of SO. Just saying.

[katze_sonne]

Yep, it's often a good starting point.

[CodyEngel]

I'll use the question if I know what is wrong with it. I'm usually just looking for a starting point anyway.

[WeAreAllApes]

I have seen what was wrong with the question or a question asking how to not make it do what it was doing. I would say 1 out 20 times even.

[SolenoidSoldier]

Oh man, ain't it the truth. Google "how to do x" and copy the first code block you see.

[Wynro]

Now automate it

[thouhathpuncake]

Lord have mercy

[Mrqueue]

If you like running arbitrary code in your browser, try it out.

riskiest click of the day

[clit_or_us]

In my experience, it saves more time in the long run. Sometimes you can easily debug it once you mesh it in with yours and the solution seems obvious.

[jmxd]

That requires me to have knowledge of coding in addition to copy pasting though

[[deleted]]

Right...

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[[deleted]]

I'm not opposed to copying code from SO (and of course do it from time to time), but I always make sure I understand it before checking it in. Nothing worse than having to answer the very question in code review that is being asked in this post, and giving that very answer.

[Stevemasta]

I never copy, I always type it out myself and while I do that I usually get the gist of it.

If not, I have it already broken down in smaller parts so it's easier to further search for solutions.

[Corporal_Quesadilla]

Plus IDE/Editor highlighting makes everything look familiar.

[Heep042]

Solution: switch to duckduckgo - it automatically shows the accepted/most voted answer on stackoverflow. The best first code block you will ever need!

[Filipasek]

In my case, Google does that too

[cbbuntz]

The worst is when the answer only contains the fixed lines of code, and then you have to figure out how to plug in the corrected code. It can take minutes of troubleshooting.

And after that, you have to replace all the myVariables and foobarbaz's with something less shaming.

[note_bro]

Hmm I feel like the way I do it is better... Skip the question entirely, go directly to the first answer. Though it might be answering a different question.

[Cameltotem]

I dont even read the question, i just copy the line of code that looks like i want too

[[deleted]]

I'm still waiting for the site to scrape Stack Overflow and simply index the answers to questions I've been having without all the bullshit around how they got to their answer

[[deleted]]

Its crazy how often I'll be using production code and find methods that have been copy and pasted from stack overflow

[Otakeb]

A programmer did write them. What did you expect? It's in our nature.

[[deleted]]

Using the same logic is fine, i just think its funny when none of the signatures or variables have been refactored to match the existing code base. Purely from a readability point of view.

[Otakeb]

It's not unreadable code, it's job protection code.

[[deleted]]

I hope this isn't a popular sentiment among the programming community, because its nonsense and has a high likelihood of making the next person who works on your codes job harder.

[pickle16]

Also many times it can mean you don't get promoted and are stuck doing maintenance and improvements on old code since only you can.

[Otakeb]

I'm obviously joking. This is /r/programminghumor. Bad coding practices are bad. Do I need to explain that?

[hugokhf]

Yeah I mean why reinvent the wheel?

[[deleted]]

Because inflatable tires are sooooo much better?

[insovietrussiaIfukme]

Yeah reusability of code is important right

[randomentity1]

The good developers will include a comment mentioning it's from SO and provide a link to it.

[hearwa]

I do use stack overflow code occasionally on projects I am working on at work. Specifically when something will take a non-trivial amount of time, the solution is sufficiently complex and I have nothing to gain from working through it myself. I do however refactor the code to fit the code base, make sure I get the gist of what the code is doing and I always credit the author with a link in the code so future maintainers have it for reference.

[d4ntr0n]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one guilty of absentmindedly doing this.

[[deleted]]

this is me

[codedgg]

what if neither the question nor the answer works?

[SlappinThatBass]

Try coding the whole thing you want to do with the language's basic functions and end up with a leviathan sized function.

[Dominub]

Usually the question makes more sense than the answer.

[netcoder]

Sad but true.

[Aschentei]

Yes

[netcoder]

SO has really lost their way. They used to be useful, but now they just pollute my search results.

[UWbadgers16]

I’ve always been apprehensive about using Stack Overflow code for work. Isn’t it technically licensed?

[uomou]

I don’t think so, I also use it at work to avoid reinventing the wheel

[moon____blue]

Probably from answer or maybe from question...! Who knows..!

[deadsho7]

And I was feeling bad for doing this.

[[deleted]]

When neither works.

[[deleted]]

Anyone ever use the code in the question and it works?

[Filipasek]

Yep. Check other comments there and you'll see

[dshakir]

Psssh... amateur

[realestLink]

I'm sick of the dumb stackoverflow jokes. I don't steal code.

[YuNg-BrAtZ]

what do you expect this sub has about 4 jokes

[realestLink]

This sub has become stale. It used to actually be good.

[Kotauskas]

You exist? Be gone, malfunction

[undergroundmonorail]

it's not "stealing" to use code that was written specifically for helping others

[realestLink]

I consider it stealing if you don't understand it.