Second project - question on mentioning someone else's work

Hi guys,

I have some questions on the second project - the survey form.
I have taken bits of the html code from the demo survey and changed it - would that be considered copy/paste? And if so what are some “good practice” examples on referencing someone else’s code?

Also - any feedback is welcome!

This is not meant to be harsh. It’s an observation. From looking at your code I don’t see any difference in your HTML for the name, email, age, dropdown versus what’s in the sample. That is copy/paste. It wouldn’t be considered original code.

The projects aren’t just another challenge. Each one is meant to be a significant step in your progress. Every project you do will require research, planning, trial and error, and strengthening your skills beyond what you gain from the incremental challenges.
To do that FCC recommends the Read, Search (Google), Ask method. It’s okay to look at the sample. But remember, it’s just a sample. One way of completing the project.
If you’re unsure about what constitutes a form the best thing to do is Google with something like “html form elements”. The first hit to w3schools is good and helps to understand what the user stories are looking for. It also will introduce you to elements that weren’t taught in FCC’s curriculum.

Maybe you’re not coming up with a good Google search term. It’s okay to look at the sample for an example. For instance, how did they get the the radio buttons to stack while mine are all on the same row?

The following is a canned reply that moderators also use for this type of question.

“Am I cheating” is a good question, and it’s one that many campers have already asked on the forums. Please see this topic for an in-depth discussion, and a quick search will bring up a wealth of other topics from your peers. Please feel free to contribute to any of those.

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My suggestion would be to not copy any code from the example and start from scratch. That’s how you will really learn. You can find a simple HTML starter template by searching if you need that, but otherwise you should add all of the elements on your page yourself manually. Why would you want to cheat yourself out of learning?

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@Roma thank you so much for all the useful tips! I will definitely incorporate them and hopefully every step I take will bring a bit more clarity. For the moment (one month into part-time coding) it feels like I’m just aimlessly swimming in open waters.

@bbsmooth thank you. And indeed, that is a good point!

Don’t forget, there’s always the forum community to throw you a life preserver when you need help or have a question.

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