So I really want to get my head round javascript and use things like jQuery and ajax etc. but although I think I have the basics and can usually work out how a code is working if I look at it for while, I cant ever seem to write coeds myself. So I have started using jQuery plugins and scripts from sites like Dynamic Drive and adapting them to sute my need.

The only thing with this is I feel a bit like I'm cheating and should be making scripts myself. If I did this though I would never get anything done???

My excuse to myself is that by adapting scripts I am still pick things up and eventually I will be able to write scripts as I need them.

 

what do you think? should I keep using other peoples scripts or should I take the time to make my own?

 

ps. Just to say though I am adapting other scripts I am still crediting where I got them from in the script comments. I'm not a thief just a copy-cat!!!

I learned PHP from adapting "free" scripts many years ago. There's no harm in using freely available scripts as long as you don't claim them as your own. Eventually you'll be confident enough to make your own.

This is how most people learn and so long as you credit them there's no problems at all.

Nothing wrong by using frameworks like jQuery to ease the work burden. Anything that makes your job easier is a good thing. It's not cheating.

 

But learning a framework is one thing - learning the language it's built on is another. If you learn the language you are free to create you own stuff without relying on others.

 

When I started out I did allot of copy and paste - stitching things together. Eventually I learned how things worked. Once you learn one programming/scripting language it's easier to learn other. The concepts are the same.

I did some times avoid using frameworks for the sake of forcing me to learn.

What is the point in spending time writing a script when someone else has already wrote it and is sharing it for free.

 

There is no point in writing a script for the sake of doing it yourself. Just keep doing what your doing and if the time comes when you need to build your own script you will no what to do

people distribute jquery plugins etc because they want to be used - you'll find eventually that you'll have spent so much time looking at the script that when it comes to writing your own (because you cannot find a plugin what you want done) that it won't seem anywhere near as foriegn to you as it does now.

Most of the coding we do at the office, we base it off some other item that is found on the web. I know when we use lightbox or videobox, we use pre-written files such as jQuery. It does indeed lower the work load.

 

I follow the saying "Why re-invent the wheel?"

 

But also, don't use the script without understanding what each line of its code does. That way, you actually learn.