Yep, that's exactly how I do it. I've seen people use whiteboards and pens and paper to solve problems, but nothing solves a problem like tactfully tackling it head on and persisting until you solve it. Having said that, some people work better writing down their problems on a whiteboard and others physically solving them.
In my day-to-day I try and avoid writing as much code as possible. If someone else has solved the problem, I'll read through their code and understand it, then implement. Developers at the end of the day are hackers. I think as long as you know how and what to Google, then you're more than capable. The difference between a good developer and a bad developer isn't knowing all the answers it's knowing where to find the answers when you need them whether that be documentation, a Google search or even a physical book.
Because lets be honest here. In the day-to-day life of a developer what percentage of developers actually solve their problems manually using their brains as opposed to finding the solution on Stackoverflow, forum or blog post? I'd be willing to bet a large percentage do. When I get stuck on something I hit Google, in an interview if they were to take into account your problem solving skills in the form of a Google search, then that would be more than fine. But I am willing to bet most interviews don't allow you to search for answers.
nothing solves a problem like tactfully tackling it head on and persisting until you solve it
The problem with this approach is it very often leads to you getting stuck on a local optima. For many problems that is good enough, but there's a good chance you might miss an entirely different approach that will lead to more optimal solution.
In my day-to-day I try and avoid writing as much code as possible. If someone else has solved the problem, I'll read through their code and understand it, then implement. Developers at the end of the day are hackers. I think as long as you know how and what to Google, then you're more than capable. The difference between a good developer and a bad developer isn't knowing all the answers it's knowing where to find the answers when you need them whether that be documentation, a Google search or even a physical book.
Because lets be honest here. In the day-to-day life of a developer what percentage of developers actually solve their problems manually using their brains as opposed to finding the solution on Stackoverflow, forum or blog post? I'd be willing to bet a large percentage do. When I get stuck on something I hit Google, in an interview if they were to take into account your problem solving skills in the form of a Google search, then that would be more than fine. But I am willing to bet most interviews don't allow you to search for answers.