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As others say I'll also copy/paste code, clean it up, but I always take the time to properly understand [and improve to better fit the situation]. I'll never accept black boxes inside my source.
If it's a somewhat significant "borrow" I'll leave a comment/partial url in my source referring back to where I found it and the authors name - even if I subsequently / substantially rewrite it.
Why? starting from real/complete and working example: can try it, test it, and see what breaks it.
once it's initially working then I'll refer to the dry msdn docs to fully understand the methods / return values / got-yas etc.
After that very often I'll do a rewrite (and re-test) now that I have the "inner-mechanicals" in my head - to ensure I really do understand what's happening (and just in case it later breaks).
Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.
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It is not entirely the fault of the coders...
I remember being able to find manuals accurately documenting APIs and giving examples of how to use them.
Now, if I can even find the necessary documentation for something, it is just as likely to be incomplete as inaccurate. I have to rely on web searches to find code snippets where documentation does not exist.
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I completely agree with this. I really, really miss having authoritative documentation - i.e. complete and accurate.
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I completely agree with this. I really, really miss having authoritative documentation - i.e. complete and accurate. 
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If I copy-paste more than a few lines of code, based on an example I found on a web page (usually CP or StackOverflow), I put the complete URL to the page as a comment in the method header. That way, I can quickly go back to the original source and review the "documentation", such as it is.
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I'm guilty of the opposite - if I don't understand a "borrowed" solution, I'll pretty much take it apart and rebuild it until I do, so in the end, even though I have a solution that I finally understand, I often feel that I really, really, should've "just moved on" and saved myself a lot of time.
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WTF!!!!???
Do you?
Jesus Christ, that sucks. You useless lazy F*&^$*%*r
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Yes, mankind hasn't developed because everybody invented their own version of the wheel. We have developed because we are capable of putting things together to create new things. I copy and get inspiration from other code a lot, otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep my deadlines. I do review and try to understand the code that I copy. Sometimes I need to alter it for my specific purposes but it already saves me a ton of time not having to read all the documentation. On the other hand I'm also putting my solutions out there for others to use.
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I would never dare do that.
If my name is on the blame, then I have to understand it. If I don't, then I don't deserve my job.
If I want someone else's name to be on it, they have to have released it as a library.
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It is one thing to copy and drop code into our apps without regard to the entire scope of it's functionality.
Quite another to take another's demonstration of how to do something in code and learn from it to develop your own rendition of the process and thereby considering the full ramifications of what your needing to do, verses what the reference source does.
One is simply shortcutting yourself, the other is enhancing the scope of your abilities.
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KC@CahabaGBA wrote: enhancing the scope of your abilities.
I'm writing this one down. 
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Late add of my sense to this topic because it is a good one.
There's got to be rules to scavenging, as it were, and first and foremost is that one always retains the address of the snippet used in a comment somewhere. Presumeably your code is now working, right?
Any code I use also will have an interface tool companion through which that code is fully accessible in a find/search model of discovery.
The bottom line on the "rule" then is you better be able to account for any functional upside moving forward.
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You're probably supposed to read through the code once after you paste it. Never read it anywhere though 
Remain Calm & Continue To Google
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It is good engineering to not reinvent the wheel. Finding out how others solved the same problem is common in science with peer reviews of findings.
When I search, I look at multiple posts, make sure I understand them, then derive my own value-added code from what I have learned. "Copy and paste" generally makes for buggy code.
For the experienced developer, searching Google or Bing for code that solves a problem is not a "copy and paste" process, but an accelerated process of learning and applying what was learned to one's own code.
A developer that does not look at how other developers approach a given problem is not one I would hire. They will not learn as well, are likely too prideful, and produce mostly mediocre work.
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Bing maps api returns the correct data. Goodbye, google maps api.
Semi-related note - Win7 install is almost done. I was at it for 6.5 hours and got almost everything reinstalled. Most of the time was spent suffering through the inevitable "updates from hell" cycle. VS2013 works like it always has, once again.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Now once you are done re-installing make a backup image for the next time
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btw, thanks for mentioning the Bing maps api, they have some nice features that might help us in a current project
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What's really funny is that I already had a basic key for Bing. Silver linings.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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If you have both Bong and Giggles sketched out, why not include an option to use either or? That way, when Bing goes bong, you can try Giggles.
Common sense is admitting there is cause and effect and that you can exert some control over what you understand.
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I WISH I COULD GIVE MORE THAN ONE UPVOTE!!
"Bong and Giggles"
That's just made my day
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If you don't laugh, this stuff will drive you crazy.
Common sense is admitting there is cause and effect and that you can exert some control over what you understand.
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LinkedIn: Congratulate William Norman-Walker for starting a new position as Software Developer at Financial Canvas
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Way to go @Nagy-Vilmos!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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You an' all!
veni bibi saltavi
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Nothing better than taking part in 'onboarding' ceremonies. With an earlier employer these ceremonies bordered on waterboarding. The freshlings quickly found themselves being 'baptized' in the fire fighter's water reservoir.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
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