Maybe not.
My initial tech training required me to use ratio deco for all dive planning. Using a program like V-Planner or that most evil and insidious invention, the dive computer, was not permitted. When I took my ratio deco certification class, the instructors sometimes calculated the dives using programs like V-planner to show how different the plans were from our ratio deco calculations, and different automatically meant inferior. It was not until I switched agencies for my advanced trimix that I learned to use V-Planner. It was not until I took cave training that I was allowed to use a decompression computer. I had all those certifications before I learned on my own how many highly experienced and skilled tech divers use programs like V-planner with a computer backup or a computer with a V-planner backup--and they live to tell the tale.
