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To be honest, I do. I am constantly referring to online notes, docs, manuals, blog posts, and every other source of information you could name. I make at least

To be honest, I do. I am constantly referring to online notes, docs, manuals, blog posts, and every other source of information you could name. I make at least 3 or 4 programming-related searches an hour, I reckon. While I will readily admit I am probably one of the more clueless programmers here, I doubt I'm alone in this...

dagw 17y ago
I imagine with a bit of planning of what I'll be working on I could probably download the vast majority of docs and manuals I need in advance. Sure it wouldn't be 100% coverage, but good enough to keep me hacking. Then every time I completely hit a wall I'd make a note of what I need and move on to some other part of my project. Next time I have internet I'll look up everything on my list and repeat.
- joss82 17y ago
  I was thinking of doing that. But does it work in real life conditions? One advantage would be that I won't be tempted to compulsively browse HN and other news web sites.
  - aaronblohowiak 17y ago
    Yes, it does. It will slow you down by a bunch at first. Then, you will learn to keep local copies of documentation and how to access them. Then, you will get to know your debugging tools better. Eventually, you will become more self-reliant. Remember, people used to program on displays that showed one line at a time.. and there was no google to query for answers.
  - dagw 17y ago
    I've never actually tried it (other than sporadically on planes and similar), but thinking about it it sounds like an interesting idea. I know I have tendency to start idly browsing when I go to check up some programming thing on the web. Perhaps I'll try unplugging my network cable for a few hours a day, just to see what it does to my productivity.
sophacles 17y ago
You are not alone in this. Whenever I fly, train, or passenger around I expect to get some coding done on various backburner projects, and inevitably I run into a "crap i need to look up x" within 20 minutes.

dagw 17y ago

I imagine with a bit of planning of what I'll be working on I could probably download the vast majority of docs and manuals I need in advance. Sure it wouldn't be 100% coverage, but good enough to keep me hacking. Then every time I completely hit a wall I'd make a note of what I need and move on to some other part of my project. Next time I have internet I'll look up everything on my list and repeat.

joss82 17y ago
I was thinking of doing that. But does it work in real life conditions? One advantage would be that I won't be tempted to compulsively browse HN and other news web sites.
- aaronblohowiak 17y ago
  Yes, it does. It will slow you down by a bunch at first. Then, you will learn to keep local copies of documentation and how to access them. Then, you will get to know your debugging tools better. Eventually, you will become more self-reliant. Remember, people used to program on displays that showed one line at a time.. and there was no google to query for answers.
- dagw 17y ago
  I've never actually tried it (other than sporadically on planes and similar), but thinking about it it sounds like an interesting idea. I know I have tendency to start idly browsing when I go to check up some programming thing on the web. Perhaps I'll try unplugging my network cable for a few hours a day, just to see what it does to my productivity.

sophacles 17y ago

You are not alone in this. Whenever I fly, train, or passenger around I expect to get some coding done on various backburner projects, and inevitably I run into a "crap i need to look up x" within 20 minutes.