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We don't have to memorize all different methods and parameter lists, but at the same time we also can hazard a guess at what parameters a method is going to take b/c we have the experience with programming to know. Yes autocomplete/intellisense helps us (professional developers) a lot b/c it speeds us up. This always became clear when the midterm came around and students were asked to write simple methods by hand.they couldn't. I found that happened a lot with students as what we asked them to do became harder, they just hacked until the got something working. When they don't understand what is happening, it becomes less programming and more hacking a solution together to get marks. But they don't understand what they are doing. Yes it compiles and runs and might even do the thing we asked them to do. Having taught and tutored students that are new to programming, I find that autocomplete/intellisense sometimes causes more harm than good. One could argue that it helps them focus on program flow and getting the hang of things first before going in-depth and understanding the nuances of the language, but I'm not sure. I have watched the IDE do these things which they have no idea about, but they just carry on. Remember I'm talking about people who are doing Programming 101, really just starting. Automatically adding 'import' or 'using' statementsĪnd much more.Filling method parameters based on local variables in context.It may not be immediately clear to a newbie why it cannot be new List, but hey it works, so they move on. When creating an object of List type, an IDE autocompletes to new ArrayList on right hand side.Many answers seem to focus on the main use of autocomplete, like completing methods, providing methods lookup and documentation etc. On the other hand, I fear that early dependence on the IDE autocomplete would make them not really understand the concepts or be able to function if they one day find themselves only with a simple editor.Ĭan anyone with more experience in this regard please share their opinion? Which is better for a newbie, autocomplete or manual typing? On the one hand, the autocomplete feature of the IDEs helps to give them feedback that they are doing it right and they quickly get to like and rely on it. Usually, they have the keyboard and I am just offering guidance. I'm talking about really new newbies, still learning about OOness, constructing objects, method calls and stuff like that. I often encounter this when I am helping out someone who is new to programming and learning it for the first time.
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