As a newbie programmer (self-taught), I've asked the same question a lot lately.
I think to some extent it's a matter of habit -- I've learned the most about my ever-improving (but still limited) abilities during the few times I've found myself coding on an airplane flight without WiFi.
When I'm forced to go with only what's in my head, I've been surprised at how far I can get (!). It was actually pretty satisfying to solve a problem and get some code working without a single Stack Overflow query :)
Of course, there are limits, and there are times when I'll hit a roadblock that's truly a limit of my knowledge (usually API/syntax-related). And even then, I've managed to make a few educated guesses and surprise myself with the result.
I think to some extent it's a matter of habit -- I've learned the most about my ever-improving (but still limited) abilities during the few times I've found myself coding on an airplane flight without WiFi.
When I'm forced to go with only what's in my head, I've been surprised at how far I can get (!). It was actually pretty satisfying to solve a problem and get some code working without a single Stack Overflow query :)
Of course, there are limits, and there are times when I'll hit a roadblock that's truly a limit of my knowledge (usually API/syntax-related). And even then, I've managed to make a few educated guesses and surprise myself with the result.