How to Copy & Paste: Effectively working with strangers (and robots) on the internet

Since the dawn of forums, CodeProject and Stack Overflow - and more recently with Github, Discord, Youtube and blog posts - we've been building applications with strangers on the internet, copying and pasting other developers' code. And now with the advent of ChatGPT, GitHub CoPilot and other AI solutions, it's easier than ever to use code somebody (or something) else wrote... without necessarily understanding the code completely. We all copy and paste code, but a senior developer will often approach the task in different way to someone more junior. We'll look at how to level-up our Ctrl+V game through understanding the problem, assessing suitability and adapting code samples to meet our needs. Together, we can build something better and quicker... so long as we know what we're building.

, by Joe Glombek

This is the full, non-Umbraco specific version of this talk. An abridged version of this recording was shown at WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2024.

How to Copy & Paste:

  1. Google it!
  2. Ask the best people (or robots) in the best place in the best way
  3. Know what and why you're asking (a rubber duck might help!)
  4. Understand and validate the answer
  5. Adapt to meet your needs