We learn theory not to understand the derivation of the details, but to understand how the theory fits in with everything else. Using a library without understanding the theory just means you know that sin(angle) is just a number, but not how the number helps you work out the length of steel beam as it changes due to changes in angle.
They are simply not the same.
Source: working with juniors that can’t do anything outside of what the libraries do for them.
Me: I could spend a month getting deep into trigonometry… OR, I could spend a month looking for a library that contains someone else’s trigonometry.
We learn theory not to understand the derivation of the details, but to understand how the theory fits in with everything else. Using a library without understanding the theory just means you know that sin(angle) is just a number, but not how the number helps you work out the length of steel beam as it changes due to changes in angle.
They are simply not the same.
Source: working with juniors that can’t do anything outside of what the libraries do for them.