Comment by txrx0000

It's a valid concern. Lazy idiots who take your work and then claim it as their own exist in the real world too. It's a social issue that requires a social solution. We need to actually enforce reciprocality, otherwise the incentives favor the zero-sum takers, who will take your work, reap the benefits, never give anything back in return, or worse, claim your work as their own and accuse you of copying them, and never face any consequences. When there are enough takers, people become demotivated and reluctant to collaborate.

In your specific case, if you spot a student claiming your work as their own, you can confront them directly, mock them and shame them in front of others, or report them to the faculty, or all of the above. Don't feel bad taking retaliatory measures against those who have already fired the first shot by claiming your work as their own.

It's fine if they copied your code and then gave appropriate credit, though. There's nothing wrong with someone else integrating your work in their projects as long as they gave credit, and even better, publically released their code so you may use what they built, too. Win-win.