Stroke Order

I used to learn mandarin from my taiwanese neighbor and she was always having me remember the stroke order of the characters. is stroke order still necessary in chinese? i understand that it is part of traditional culture, but i dont think its really necessary. is it?

to me, stroke order helps me remember the character i want to write. like in 作, i'll remember it as 'pie3 shu4 pie3 heng2 shu4 heng2 heng2'. it might seem useless in simple words, but for more complicated ones, you'll be thankful. also, it ensures you write the character in full, like not forgetting a 'dian3' somewhere in the character.