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I think reading software manuals is a waste of time. Unless if you do something wrong, you break something, it is much more efficient to just try to do a few e

I think reading software manuals is a waste of time. Unless if you do something wrong, you break something, it is much more efficient to just try to do a few examples and work with the tool, then when you need the manual, you read it. Just search on it what you need. I think it is impossible to read those things and still be ahead of the curve on what is happening with software and things in general. Very time inefficient way of learning things. Try to learn by practicing and knowing where to search when problems happens, learn how to debug problems in real life effectively, because that's what you will do on your whole career.

deleted 8y ago
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dlkinney 8y ago
I used to feel the same way... until I actually read one. It was a point several years ago that I was looking for a "better" solution to something I was doing. A bunch of Stack Exchange answers on the topic each had a different way of doing it, and each was as complicated as my own solution. Over the course of years, people tried to make the solution better. Then I noticed the very bottom answer, below some dozen others. Posted about a month before my search. It was one line. The individual just posted the one-line answer and a link to the manual. It was part of the standard library. And had been SINCE INCEPTION. It was at that point that I began to RTFM. There are good manuals and there are bad manuals. But one thing I've noticed is that for most libraries, it is absolutely invaluable to be able to have a high level picture of what's available. It has completely changed the way I code, now. First, read a few hello world tutorials so I can wrap my head around the gist. Then RTFM. Then maybe read a book about it if I want a good idea of best practices. Only then do I search SE or other online sources. Which I now rarely have to do, for the things in which I RTFM...

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

dlkinney 8y ago

I used to feel the same way... until I actually read one. It was a point several years ago that I was looking for a "better" solution to something I was doing. A bunch of Stack Exchange answers on the topic each had a different way of doing it, and each was as complicated as my own solution. Over the course of years, people tried to make the solution better. Then I noticed the very bottom answer, below some dozen others. Posted about a month before my search. It was one line. The individual just posted the one-line answer and a link to the manual. It was part of the standard library. And had been SINCE INCEPTION. It was at that point that I began to RTFM. There are good manuals and there are bad manuals. But one thing I've noticed is that for most libraries, it is absolutely invaluable to be able to have a high level picture of what's available. It has completely changed the way I code, now. First, read a few hello world tutorials so I can wrap my head around the gist. Then RTFM. Then maybe read a book about it if I want a good idea of best practices. Only then do I search SE or other online sources. Which I now rarely have to do, for the things in which I RTFM...