> The first step is understanding where they come from and what problem they solve. > The next step is to make our own mistakes and learn from them. ...The tri

> The first step is understanding where they come from and what problem they solve. > The next step is to make our own mistakes and learn from them. ...The trial and error learning involved gives us knowledge much deeper than what we would gain by following the rules. As a learner, I find best practices to be a very useful starting point, which the article mentions. As a mentor, on the other hand, I've struggled with how to provide "best practices" that are short and sweet, but still convey some of the hidden trade-offs. I write docs for a few public libraries and some users just want to get up and running quickly. They don't have time or want to go through trial/error and explore the nuances. Maybe there should be a greater burden for the givers of advice to acknowledge the trade-offs in their "best practices. Then again, answering a question with "it depends" can be a big turn off to some people, to the point where they stop listening/reading and look elsewhere for help.