Don’t copy-paste code. Type it out.

Cargo Cult programming happens when developers copy or change code they don't understand, risking unintended side-effects. To learn efficiently, developers should read code, understand the language and libraries used, and type it out rather than copy-paste. Typing code forces active practice, increasing retention compared to passive reading. It also helps avoid naming collisions and forgetting to change critical tokens like label 'for' attributes. Test Driven Development can prevent mistakes when copying tests. The key takeaway is to learn from code and practice, not just copy blindly.