4 ms·

To be fair, they offered a complete JS reference when none existed (at least that I knew of), in format which was easy to understand. I don't really know where

To be fair, they offered a complete JS reference when none existed (at least that I knew of), in format which was easy to understand. I don't really know where the hate against w3s comes from... I still find them easier to use than MDN for quick lookups.

watter 9y ago
The hate comes from little inaccuracies that have caused hours of stress and confusion. It is probably not as bad now but I recall getting pretty frustrated after spending hours debugging only to find out the docs were wrong.
spondyl 9y ago
It's just a real weird site. It doesn't really teach you anything in depth, opting instead to just spit out a bunch of examples. As someone who used it initially years back starting out, I would have appreciated if it actually gave me context about how things worked and why rather than just copying and pasting code. The only real reason it seems to get attention is due to the feedback loop of its ranking. Users see it as a top result and assume it must be some sort of authority on web development. It has nothing to do with the W3C despite the name. Not to imply that beginners might know about W3C in the first place but still! I wonder if it's still the same team of 3 developers running the place? Here's a writeup about it http://w3schools.sinsixx.com/about/about_refsnes.asp.htm http://w3schools.sinsixx.com/about/about_refsnes.asp.htm
- yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
  Examples are super useful; for the cases I've used w3schools, their example either worked almost directly or at least showed me how to do something quickly. Keep in mind that I'm not a real web dev, so my usecases are trivial stuff.
- shubhamjain 9y ago
  > It doesn't really teach you anything in depth, opting instead to just spit out a bunch of examples. You spelt the very reason it is (was?) popular. The documentation/tutorial that gets traffic isn't the one with the most in-depth technical treatment, but, one which gives accessible examples to get started.
- dmitriid 9y ago
  Soooo... They were the original StackOverflow ;)

watter 9y ago

The hate comes from little inaccuracies that have caused hours of stress and confusion. It is probably not as bad now but I recall getting pretty frustrated after spending hours debugging only to find out the docs were wrong.

spondyl 9y ago

It's just a real weird site. It doesn't really teach you anything in depth, opting instead to just spit out a bunch of examples. As someone who used it initially years back starting out, I would have appreciated if it actually gave me context about how things worked and why rather than just copying and pasting code. The only real reason it seems to get attention is due to the feedback loop of its ranking. Users see it as a top result and assume it must be some sort of authority on web development. It has nothing to do with the W3C despite the name. Not to imply that beginners might know about W3C in the first place but still! I wonder if it's still the same team of 3 developers running the place? Here's a writeup about it http://w3schools.sinsixx.com/about/about_refsnes.asp.htm http://w3schools.sinsixx.com/about/about_refsnes.asp.htm

yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
Examples are super useful; for the cases I've used w3schools, their example either worked almost directly or at least showed me how to do something quickly. Keep in mind that I'm not a real web dev, so my usecases are trivial stuff.
shubhamjain 9y ago
> It doesn't really teach you anything in depth, opting instead to just spit out a bunch of examples. You spelt the very reason it is (was?) popular. The documentation/tutorial that gets traffic isn't the one with the most in-depth technical treatment, but, one which gives accessible examples to get started.
dmitriid 9y ago
Soooo... They were the original StackOverflow ;)