Codesmith vs. Hand coding

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  • tjmadden1128@gmail.com

    #16
    Re: Codesmith vs. Hand coding


    M.Siler wrote:
    I'm trying to get my head around a conversation I had with a developer the
    other day. We were talking about Codesmith vs. Hand coding. He's position is
    Codesmith is for junior to mid level developer who perfer "wizards" to write
    code for them. That these types of code generators produce substandard
    developers who don't have real skills. I don't have a position one way or
    the other until I have a bit more information, but if I was to take the
    other point of view... Is there value in utilizing something like Codesmith
    to generate the bases of some code and then to customize it from there?
    I would disagree. Senior developers get there by understanding and
    using the tools available. That includes when and where to use them,
    what the limitations are, etc. I would not depend on them, but they can
    save time and effort, or not if you don't understand what they are
    doing.

    As an analogy already brought up, I went to rent a power nailer to
    attach baseboards to drywall instead of using a hammer. The guy at the
    shop told me any nailer I rented would probably drive the nails out the
    back of the drywall. I ended up using a hammer.

    I guess my question to the developer is: Are you using VIsual Studio?
    Why not Notepad and csc? I'm sure you can find a Windows version of VI.
    Maybe, if you are lucky, there might be a line editor like the one I
    first used in high school. Ever hand-code a COM interface in C? Off
    forum, but every developer I know uses XDoclet or similar to generate
    EJB code. I have plug-ins for the Java editor that generate Hiberate
    files and Java classes based on the database schema I used. I would not
    want to code the classes by hand. I'm working through a tutorial on
    MSDN now on datasets. I've done lots of SQL by hand, it's nice to have
    a tool do some of it for me.

    Comment

    • Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]

      #17
      Re: Codesmith vs. Hand coding

      It sounds like he doesn't understand the power of code generators.

      I would refer him to "Write Code that Writes Code" section of the Pragmatic
      Programmer.

      We improve the lives of professional developers. We create timely, practical books on classic and cutting-edge topics to help you learn and practice your craft, and accelerate your career. Come learn with us.


      The short of it is that "Code generators increase your productivity and help
      avoid duplication".

      --
      Hope this helps
      Jay B. Harlow [MVP - Outlook]
      ..NET Application Architect, Enthusiast, & Evangelist
      T.S. Bradley - http://www.tsbradley.net


      "M.Siler" <John.Doe@NoSpa m.comwrote in message
      news:e06RgPrxGH A.2168@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...
      | I'm trying to get my head around a conversation I had with a developer the
      | other day. We were talking about Codesmith vs. Hand coding. He's position
      is
      | Codesmith is for junior to mid level developer who perfer "wizards" to
      write
      | code for them. That these types of code generators produce substandard
      | developers who don't have real skills. I don't have a position one way or
      | the other until I have a bit more information, but if I was to take the
      | other point of view... Is there value in utilizing something like
      Codesmith
      | to generate the bases of some code and then to customize it from there?
      |
      |


      Comment

      • Miha Markic [MVP C#]

        #18
        Re: Codesmith vs. Hand coding

        Me too, CodeSmith (and other such tools) are killer tools (in positive way)
        in skilled hands.
        They can help you soo much with tedious work that it can't be even described
        :-)

        --
        Miha Markic [MVP C#, INETA Country Leader for Slovenia]
        RightHand .NET consulting & development www.rthand.com
        Blog: http://cs.rthand.com/blogs/blog_with_righthand/

        "M.Siler" <John.Doe@NoSpa m.comwrote in message
        news:e06RgPrxGH A.2168@TK2MSFTN GP06.phx.gbl...
        I'm trying to get my head around a conversation I had with a developer the
        other day. We were talking about Codesmith vs. Hand coding. He's position
        is Codesmith is for junior to mid level developer who perfer "wizards" to
        write code for them. That these types of code generators produce
        substandard developers who don't have real skills. I don't have a position
        one way or the other until I have a bit more information, but if I was to
        take the other point of view... Is there value in utilizing something like
        Codesmith to generate the bases of some code and then to customize it from
        there?
        >

        Comment

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