IDE - The beginner's trap

Hello everyone, today we talk about IDE's !

But first..

What's an IDE ?

For me, an IDE is a software that allows us to write code with a comfortable environment for the language we're using. We can do thing faster and better. I would even say that it is not a software but a set of software offering a lot of tools like syntax highlighting, a debugger, code completion, code reformatting, ...

Why we love IDE's ?

Don't you think having an IDE can change a life? We are always defending in comments and forums that our IDE is the best. Why? Simply because it really changes our lives and the way we code. We do things twice as fast and better.

Whether it is self-completion, reporting problems with our code, reformatting our code, etc... Our IDE saves us from many struggles sometimes.

It is not only a tool but also a way of working

But for a beginner, the IDE can be a double-edged tool ( and a very sharp one) because of some of the things we will discuss, if you don't mind, in this article.

Why I say that's a trap ?

What I will say throughout this article is the result of my personal experience and those of the people around me (classmates, colleagues, ...). Do not hesitate to give your opinion and share your point of view 😁.

The first trap a beginner can fall into, for me, is to use an IDE to learn a new language. Because, for me and for most people, it is easier to learn by using a maximum of senses, the fact of reading only one course is not enough to learn correctly and in a productive way. It would be better, for example, to read the course, reproduce the code, and even watch a video to make all your senses work. (sight, hearing, ...)

Using an IDE leads to this, because even if you copy the code you find on the tutorial or the course or anything else, the IDE helps us and self-completes some keywords and that's how my classmates learned java with Netbeans in class but as soon as they had to write a simple code that will display "hello, World!" they were incapable because they didn't know exactly how to write this code because some element was automatically generated by the IDE as public static void main (String[] args) {} and this is one of 100 other examples ! I have also fallen into this trap in the past, now, when I learn a language I tend to copy all the keywords on notepad in order to remember more precisely each element that characterizes this language.

The IDE can also be a calamity for people who are too perfectionist. I know people who spend more time looking for a beautiful theme for vs code than learning to code, it makes me laugh at times 😆.

I also had the opportunity to meet people who only knew how to use git with the help of the buttons available on the IDE they were using, you know, the buttons that commit & push at the same time automatically. And then, when they change their IDE, they're lost, because they can't figure out how we this or that. They were too dependent on their tools!

What we can do ?

That is why, I think that before you can make your life easier with an IDE, you have to go through a learning stage without it and this way understand exactly the tools that have been used and the technologies behind it.

An expression tells us that we must walk before we can run, and I think it can be applied here.

If you know what you're using you will be more productive and that's what we're all looking for. Productivity.

So, start learning without you're IDE, take some time to learn the tools inside, and try to use always the same to be comfortable with.

Like a said before, try to learn with a video and then reproduces the code, then fidgets with the code. This is the best way to understand an element.

I had a lot of other reasons in mind last night, but I made the mistake of not writing them down directly! I should get better at that. ALWAYS TAKE NOTE 😭 !!

That was my last advice for today. 😜