Have you ever copied other websites scripts while designing your own??

I used to do this way back when when I had a website. If I saw something cool, I would just go to 'view source' and edit their HTML to customize it as my own. I don't think that's wrong. Isn't that called "open source"? Shouldn't knowledge be shared and whatnot? Even when I used to be an HTML wizz, I always had to copy and paste. I couldn't start anything from scratch.

When I was just starting out, I experienced copying a script from other website. Now, that I am better learned, I never do that again :)

yeah as opensource community is so wide, why not reinvent the wheel? rather starting from scratch i would loved to used opensource sites and customized it the way i want as it would help also the speed up of the development. and you are right its really a time saving

I think when anyone starts to learn html they will grab code from other sites to use on their own. But the important thing is too understand how the code works rather than just copying it, then when something doesn't work you will be able to fathom out how to fix it. The more you understand the quicker it all becomes plus it also means you can make your site stand out from the crowd if you create unique elements for it rather than just copying what others have done.

Copying simple HTML certainly saves time. There are even sites such as JavaScript Source, CodeBelly, JavaFile, Dynamic Drive DHTML, and many others, that offer free scripts for use on personal pages. You mentioned 'designing job' though. If you are talking about copying the source of an entire website and its design, then you could be walking a fine line. To copy another webpage's layout and/or graphics, even if you alter colors or change the wording, could still constitute copyright infringement. It is one thing to copy HTML tags; it is quite another to copy the entire site and claim it as your own. I have a very popular website which is a simple madlib for a Dear Santa letter. I used a free madlib script from JavaScript Source and even provided credit and a link on the page. I originally published it on the web in 2000. Over the years, it took off. Several years ago, I ran into a link to another Dear Santa madlib. The colors had changed, the javascript was even different, but the letter itself was mine word-for-word and the whole idea had clearly been copied. I was incensed! If there had been credit or a link back to my own page, I probably would have been less upset. After a prolonged exchange of e-mails, the webmaster reluctantly agreed to put a link to my page at the bottom of her page. The next year, I noticed that the page had been taken down. My point is that nobody wants to see their hard work copied and claimed as someone else's own. If you copy code and modify it to suit your needs, that's fine, but if you copy someone's 'designing job', than ask permission or clearly provide credit.

I did this only once when I was creating a private server for one of the games.