This is totally a function of the experience level of the reader. When I was a beginner/intermediate dev, I was actively seeking out articles about the basics i

This is totally a function of the experience level of the reader. When I was a beginner/intermediate dev, I was actively seeking out articles about the basics in everyday language from different people so I could grok the language. I'm much more comfortable going straight to documentation now, but there is absolutely a place for beginner explanatory blog posts. The fact that they are generally crap is an orthogonal problem and one the author addresses pretty well IMO.