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Little experience with javadocs, so how do they fall?

n4r9 4y ago
Also no experience with javadocs or Java, but in my experience Stackoverflow is a huge productivity boost for a junior dev. For example I wonder if javadocs shows you how to convert an InputStream to a string, as per this question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/309424/how-do-i-read-convert-an-inputstream-into-a-string-in-java https://stackoverflow.com/questions/309424/how-do-i-read-con...
- karatinversion 4y ago
  I’ve used javadocs plenty, and really like them, but they are organised by package and class, so figuring out how to do something when you don’t know what package to use is very painful. Say you want to know how to delete a file at a given path. I’ve been around the block a few times, so I’ll know that it’ll probably be an operation on java.nio.file.Path, so I can find the Java doc for that, hit “Uses”, and search for “remove” (nothing) and “delete” (ah-hah, there it is). If you don’t have a starting point like that from prior experience or stackoverflow, you’re stuck clicking around the package lists, hoping to land on something useful
richbell 4y ago
JavaDocs are like the owner's manual included in a car: useful for many things, but if you need to figure out what route to take to get from point A to point B it probably won't help you.
duckydude20 4y ago
i am a junior developer and now i am rely heavily on them. esp, multi-threading stuff. but in most cases i know what i am looking for. the particular interface or at least i have some idea. this in true for most jdk framework. others java docs indirectly. ctrl + q. but i do sometimes go back and search uses/example of some implementation i found via docs. eg. selector and channels... but rn, i am liking reading docs first.
tikkabhuna 4y ago
Javadoc I find is excellent, but its firmly in the "Reference"[0] quadrant of documentation. I find it very readable and useful when you know what you're looking for (finding subclasses of Collection, for example). However, Stack Overflow is excellent when you don't know where to start. [0] https://documentation.divio.com/ https://documentation.divio.com/

n4r9 4y ago

Also no experience with javadocs or Java, but in my experience Stackoverflow is a huge productivity boost for a junior dev. For example I wonder if javadocs shows you how to convert an InputStream to a string, as per this question: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/309424/how-do-i-read-convert-an-inputstream-into-a-string-in-java https://stackoverflow.com/questions/309424/how-do-i-read-con...

karatinversion 4y ago
I’ve used javadocs plenty, and really like them, but they are organised by package and class, so figuring out how to do something when you don’t know what package to use is very painful. Say you want to know how to delete a file at a given path. I’ve been around the block a few times, so I’ll know that it’ll probably be an operation on java.nio.file.Path, so I can find the Java doc for that, hit “Uses”, and search for “remove” (nothing) and “delete” (ah-hah, there it is). If you don’t have a starting point like that from prior experience or stackoverflow, you’re stuck clicking around the package lists, hoping to land on something useful

richbell 4y ago

JavaDocs are like the owner's manual included in a car: useful for many things, but if you need to figure out what route to take to get from point A to point B it probably won't help you.

duckydude20 4y ago

i am a junior developer and now i am rely heavily on them. esp, multi-threading stuff. but in most cases i know what i am looking for. the particular interface or at least i have some idea. this in true for most jdk framework. others java docs indirectly. ctrl + q. but i do sometimes go back and search uses/example of some implementation i found via docs. eg. selector and channels... but rn, i am liking reading docs first.

tikkabhuna 4y ago

Javadoc I find is excellent, but its firmly in the "Reference"[0] quadrant of documentation. I find it very readable and useful when you know what you're looking for (finding subclasses of Collection, for example). However, Stack Overflow is excellent when you don't know where to start. [0] https://documentation.divio.com/ https://documentation.divio.com/