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> Searching for code to reuse, call into, or to see how others handle a problem is one of the most common tasks in a software developer’s day I don't disagree

> Searching for code to reuse, call into, or to see how others handle a problem is one of the most common tasks in a software developer’s day I don't disagree at all that this is how we code these days... but I distinctly remember a time when this wasn't so. We had to do everything ourselves. We engineered our solutions based on various requirements and constraints, and most importantly, we had to figure it out ourselves. The only external help we had was with the APIs we used... and they had to be studied to be understood. Even in recent times, the most fun I've had programming has been when it's all come from my wee little head, rather than trawling for solutions and shoehorning/ reworking something similar.

probably_wrong 7y ago
Only mildly related, but I had a recent experience that made me fond of Java's way of doing things that your comment reminded me of. I had to use a tool for work (name withhold to protect the guilty) that has awful documentation. The tool allows you to write snippets of your own code, but provides no IDE and no documentation (AFAIK) of anything but the most trivial aspects of the API. I started using Python, but with no debugger and no interactive shell there was no way I was going to guess the names of the functions I needed. Lucky for me, someone uploaded the Javadoc of an older version of the API, and that was the missing piece of my puzzle: having the function names, the return types, and Java's stack traces, I now had all I needed. Back to the topic: like you, I sometimes wonder if there's a downside to not having to scroll through hundreds of manual pages anymore. But until someone shows some kind of evidence of something being lost, I won't worry too much. That said, I definitely wish more companies would make their documentation available offline, if only as a static version of the online version. For those of us who regularly program in trains and planes, offline docs are a lifesaver.

probably_wrong 7y ago

Only mildly related, but I had a recent experience that made me fond of Java's way of doing things that your comment reminded me of. I had to use a tool for work (name withhold to protect the guilty) that has awful documentation. The tool allows you to write snippets of your own code, but provides no IDE and no documentation (AFAIK) of anything but the most trivial aspects of the API. I started using Python, but with no debugger and no interactive shell there was no way I was going to guess the names of the functions I needed. Lucky for me, someone uploaded the Javadoc of an older version of the API, and that was the missing piece of my puzzle: having the function names, the return types, and Java's stack traces, I now had all I needed. Back to the topic: like you, I sometimes wonder if there's a downside to not having to scroll through hundreds of manual pages anymore. But until someone shows some kind of evidence of something being lost, I won't worry too much. That said, I definitely wish more companies would make their documentation available offline, if only as a static version of the online version. For those of us who regularly program in trains and planes, offline docs are a lifesaver.