Giving credit where credit is due
Tags: discuss, writing
Published: 2020-06-23 16:59:09

About a month ago I wrote an [article](https://dev.to/drbragg/handling-service-worker-updates-in-your-vue-pwa-1pip) on an issue I had run into a few times and the solution I eventually came up with.

By 'came up' with I mean:

- review various documentation
- read numerous articles
- search StackOverflow for similar issues
- then compile everything I've read/learned into a single place where I or anyone else could access the information.

What resulted was my take on all of these sources put together and tested in a few of my personal and work apps.

Since I had worked on the problem for sometime and used countless resources I didn't think to include a credit section in the article. But recently someone left a comment on my article saying I should give credit to another article with extremely similar code to what I used and that was posted well before mine. Interestingly enough, I did not come across this article when I was working on my original solution. So, if I did have a credit section, I wouldn't credit that particular article but it did raise an interesting question.

### When should I include links to other articles, docs, or StackOverflow questions I used in researching my problem? 

Naturally, if my solution is pulled directly from or heavily influenced by 1 or 2 other articles I would state that but in this case the 'credit' section would end up looking something like this:

(this is just based on my browser history as far back as it will go)

- [This StackOverflow Question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51214220/vue-cli-3-how-to-use-the-official-pwa-plugin-service-worker)
- [These Docs](https://github.com/yyx990803/register-service-worker#readme)
- [This Issue](https://github.com/yyx990803/register-service-worker/issues/14)
- [This Article](https://redfin.engineering/how-to-fix-the-refresh-button-when-using-service-workers-a8e27af6df68)
- [These Docs](https://github.com/vuejs/vue-cli/issues/2589)
- [This Other StackOverflow Question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41891031/refresh-page-on-controllerchange-in-service-worker)
- [These Docs Too](https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/primers/service-workers/registration)
- [These Docs Too](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/workbox/reference-docs/latest/module-workbox-webpack-plugin)
- [This StackOverflow Question Also](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56790123/show-updated-pwa-created-in-vue)
- [etc...](https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00Lv9QocGHZE2e3LJw7cRsY8eVETw%3A1592928368106&ei=cCjyXriMBoHDytMPuv-mqAY&q=vue+pwa&oq=vue+pwa&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIECCMQJzIECCMQJzIECCMQJzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzICCAAyBggAEAcQHjICCAAyBAgAEEMyBAgAEENQm84NWJvODWC30g1oAHAAeACAAaQBiAGkAZIBAzAuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXo&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwi4hKLMqJjqAhWBoXIEHbq_CWUQ4dUDCAw&uact=5)

Which seems... excessive and would also mean that everything I write from here on out would need links to every article, SO question, or doc I've read on the topic.  I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due and not receive comment essentially accusing me of stealing someone else's article. I guess I just don't know when my code starts being mine and stops being a culmination of everything I've learned or read.

What do you think? When do you include a 'credit' section and what sources do you include in it?