If you are a programmer you should do yourself, and anyone else working with your code, a favor: stop using copy and paste. If there is a case where you need to use the exact same, or very similar, code in multiple places, that is a sign that you should be using a function, object, or other structure. I say this not for the sake of ‘proper coding practices’, but to save you and anyone else dealing with your code a massive headache.

I admit that there have been cases where I have copied code (I was young! I didn’t know what I was doing). From experience, I can tell you that I have almost always regretted it. For one, it is very annoying to have to make changes in multiple parts of your program. For another, when you copy code, you also copy any errors in that code. You might be inclined to think that you’ve been careful or you are certain that this code doesn’t contain any errors, but in retrospect, I think at least half of the time I’ve done this even when it is a fairly simple program, I’ve had to go back and fix bugs in multiple places.

This headache is even worse for someone who is working with your code. When making changes or updates that person may think that they’ve done what they intended when in fact they’ve only addressed half or less of the problem. The same goes for errors: it can be extremely frustrating to think that you’ve fixed a problem and then have it present itself again because you are unaware that the original coder used copy and paste.

If you have the means, I advize you to attach USB electrodes (you can buy them at target) to yourself and have yourself zapped everytime you press ctrl+c.