Jan 28 2005
RTFM Anyone?
It seems to me that I have come across a few people (if you’re reading this its probably not you I’m talking about) that have learnt a programming language without actually knowing when the language reference manuals are for that language.
The seem to think that all the information that they’ll need can somehow be “absorbed” by reading a Wrox or a SAMS book…. a few have even tried programming after reading one of those damned “… For Dummies” books and that you somehow need to have a PhD to be able to find (let alone read) a reference manual for a programming language.
Personally I think that this mentallity is very dangerous. You end up with loads of people writing code in a very set way simple because “thats the way the book told me to do it!”. People seem to forget that the method in the book is there probably because it is the simplest method to read, explain and understand. This normally results in a method that is over simplified for a real world task, is very inefficient in the real world and uses far more resources than are actually required to get a task done.
Another problem with going with the book only learning approach is that you’re more likely to ask other people for help rather than sit down and work though the problem for yourself. I have seen many posts to forums asking how to perform a simple programming task, if only they had RTFM they would have found an example. I beleive that simply reading the book reduces your ability to logically work through the problem to find the best solution for the situation.
I’m not saying that you should read books to help you learn a programming language. In fact books like SAMS and Wrox are very well written. But they should be used simply to get you started. Once you’ve got going in the language one of the first things you should do is to find the manual…. it really isn’t as scary as you think it might be.
Also, don’t assume that the method in a book is the best method for doing something. It probably isn’t. Learn to be critical of your code! Is it written in the neatest way? Is it readable? Is it using more reasources than it needs to? Can you string functions together rather than declaring variables all over the place? Is the code that you’re writting in the right place? Is your code reusable else where in your program? Is your code reuseable outside of the current program? And finally (esp. if you answered yes to any of the above)….
Is there a better way?
In some cases I’m guilty as charged! However, I found that the way I learnt VB was through a mixture of reading, playing and experience over time. But, there are people who think that a simple crash course can turn them into a programmer over-night. I’m currently playing around with C++. Don’t expect to write anything too grand for a while!
Learning the code from the manual is a good practice… what you cant get is advice though. As someone learning a language, it is much more beneficial to have an experienced person offer suggestions or ideas for implementing an idea as opposed to just looking up the use of a function. You certainly can’t get everything from the manual!
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you can get everything from the manual. I’m not even saying that you should start learning from the manual. There is a vast army of programmers out there that are ready to answer you’re programming questions.
What I’m saying is that a little research in the right places will provide a lot more information than simply posting a question like “How do I display a message box to the user?” on a forum.
For starters there have problem been a hundred previous requests for that information and it is also (probably) cover extensively in the reference manual for the language.
That’s true. I don’t think I’ve ever posted to a forum to ask for help. I ususally look for somebody else’s similar question to help me out or to give me a flash of inspiration.