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I don't get why people keep asking about the cheat sheets?

What's the use of a cheat sheet?

Do you guys revise the learned stuff from the cheat sheets or what? Because in my opinion they are of no use.

Edit : I saw people here and on Stack overflow asking the cheat sheets for a particular language.

Link 1, Link 2

I just wanna know what's their use? Are they used to revise what you've learned before an exam/interview etc. ?

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1  
Cheat sheets for what? What's the context? – Vetle Oct 8 '10 at 20:15
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There's a language problem here, I believe. A Cheat Sheet, in the programming world, is jargon for a short one or two page reference document, and does not imply 'cheating' on a test. In the US the phrase I believe comes from students who would create such concise documents to help them prepare for a test (or maybe sneak it into a test). But at the profesional level, it just means a concise reference document. – GrandmasterB Oct 8 '10 at 20:31

3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

Assuming you mean stuff like http://devcheatsheet.com/, I use them to look stuff up quickly when I'm just drawing a blank on syntax or shortcuts.

Nobody can remember everything (and especially when it comes to things they use infrequently), so cheat sheets can be a useful reference. I can go to Google, punch in keywords, and wade through links/blog posts, or I can just look stuff up in a cheat sheet. The latter is a lot faster.

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+1 for "Nobody can remember everything." – Robert Harvey Oct 8 '10 at 20:59
+1 for an awesome link. – Tom Wijsman Oct 9 '10 at 13:56
up vote 3 down vote

I use cheat sheets to memorize keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcuts make me 200%+ more productive once I learn them. Cheat sheets help me, in the beginning of learning new things, to learn the shortcuts for all the things I do most often. Once I commit them to memory I don't need them anymore...until the next version comes along of whatever it is.

It's like flash cards when learning something. Nobody uses flash cards for taking the test, because it would take too long to flip through the flash cards. They get their use by helping you practice before the test and commit things to memory.

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up vote 0 down vote

Cheat sheets as far as code snippets are concerned are useful because quite honestly, I don't feel like memorizing the same string manipulation function across 3 different languages. If I used 1 language all the time, it might be possible keep the important functions in mind all the time.

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