Some developers love learning through blog posts, articles, or just any form of written content. Others prefer finding videos, whether on Youtube...
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I much prefer written content. A few reasons:
I do occasionally prefer a video for introducing me to a brand new concept, or for high-level abstract topics. The WET Codebase talk from Dan Abramov is a good example of something I would not take in as well in writing.
As an aside, I imagine DEV members will on average prefer written content, given that's what it's a platform for?
I do agree with you guys. Reading is good when we already have some basic concepts but video is better when new concept. Actually, I also prefer reading because it quicker too for me.
I was gonna mention if a video has a transcript would it be similar to a blog post experience, but then noticed that the video you included has a transcript so I guess that could answer my question!
Haha, Yes, that transcript is a really nice accessibility addition but it’s not as nice to read as a formatted article.
In theory, you could write a nicely formatted transcription, but at that point you’re creating two pieces of content and that’s a lot of work.
I think there are tools that automate it but you most probably would still need to proof it, especially if it contains code blocks.
Written. As long as it is well written. I like being able to go at my own pace and try out code before going on to the next section of the article. I find I get far more from written then I do video. That being said video is nice occasionally to re-enforce complicated topics or to get a brief overview of a new topic.
The written format is the one I usually prefer
I find it easier since I can copy and test code, tinker around with it and scroll to the parts of the tutorial I need, without the hassle of going through the whole article
True, written content is definitely the best for copy-pasting
I prefer written because written saves time at-least for me, lets suppose someone made a video of 10 min explain some topics then to understand that you need to waste your 10 minutes when i can consume the same thing with 2 minutes of reading thats my way of thinking and what i do.
That makes sense! Would it apply the same way if you were totally new to a topic?
90% of the time written works for me, but I also agree that sometimes learning with visuals can help you understand more with new topics, I also believe its the matter of your skill stage.
Both..
If I want to learn new things and dont know where to start, e.g: "I want to learn NodeJS", then I prefer video.
But..
If I want to search spesific usecase, e.g. "how to connect NodeJS to Redis", then I prefer article.
That seems to be the general approach for everyone!
Completelly agree. Moreover you can check the documentation much faster this way than if it was a video 😅
+1 on the written format here.
I like both, when I am learning something from scrash videos is a good option but whenI want to review a library or extension of something that I know I prefer read and article also when I am following a guide to complete a setup.
I generally prefer videos, if I'm honest. The format typically allows for quick little asides that more fully explain why a given thing is being done. Articles tend to have a lot of this information stripped out in the editing process.
That’s true in some cases, it probably depends on the type of article or its purpose
I prefer reading. But when I want to use new skills right away, I watch youtube videos. Like, when I got an assignment from the interview, I had to use 'react-query' that I didn't know and had to wrote test code, so, I watched videos about that and I could use them following their styles that were on the videos.
That's interesting! Did the interview go well btw? 😄
Yes, It went well, and I'm working there now :)
It depends on the situation. If I don't have a know how about the technology, first I watch a short video. Then, I start to read documentations and articles. Articles and documentations much more useful to find what you wonder or learn.
Originally it was videos but articles save so much time. The more you read, the easier it is to skim past the repetitive content.
Also it's easier to tell which articles are click bait or copy/paste compared to videos.
That’s a good point!
I prefer videos.
It is much easier for me to get an idea of the process as a whole.
It also allows me to see stuff like how to handle styles or folder structure that's implicitly given with videos.
Makes sense. What I'm mostly curious about with learning through videos if you're following a tutorial with code snippets. How easy/difficult it is to follow along?
When it comes to software I prefer written cause it's the medium I'm more used to and it's less concerning for evil bosses who look at my screen (I'm looking at my dog right now!!). But if it's something I'm 100% a noob on, then video it is.
But, at the same time I love watching videos on science, history, art, gossip, etc. on my lunch time. I try to have other interests than software so, I don't actively look for software stuff in my downtime. c:
Why choose? If content is great, I consume anything. Videos are something I prepare for (get the headset, reserve some time), while articles and documentation is something I use more often and more casually and/or in spots
No need to choose! Just getting a general idea of what developers prefer 😊
Even some people prefer podcasts. This choice seems too interesting for me because I'm a visual learer. I can't find enough time for listening to podcasts. I prefer videos. Especially live coding videos are my fav because I'm coding while I'm watching the videos.
That's true I've seen that! I've never tried listening to a podcast to learn something. I'm interested to see how that experience works like
Written resources, of course. The documentation should be friend for the programmer.
Some official websites of the subjects provide nice written tutorials for getting started or quick start such as React Native that learners can immediately play around to get motivation.
Videos are for listening to what experienced people tell, like Patrick Syu aka Techlead (ex-google, ex-facebook, millionaire, youtuber) tells, for fun.
Always articles, navigation, searching, reading just bits of it, so many reasons
I definitely prefer learning from written content because I read fast and can scan, scroll, and quickly skip sections, but be sure they don't contain anything important.
What do you mean they don’t contain anything important?
When I'm about to skip a section, I read its subtitle and then scan the content for keywords and code snippets. If I stumble on something I discover for the first time and it looks important, then I scroll back and read the whole section.
For example, if I'm researching, I may read several books on the topic. Their authors talk about the same thing, so after reading the first book, I can skip some parts of the other books.
Since 1998 only text, always.
Love the specific year 😄
Videos for short, high level overviews of a topic.
Written for everything else.
I prefer both. Thats totally depend upon what I looking for.
If some concept is new then I look to the videos, get some basic understanding and move to blog i.e written stuff.
I prefer both. Article are good but some times video is better to understand .
It really depends.
I begin with a video tutorial and then move on to reading articles and reviewing documentation.
I think at some point we all have to go through the Documentation.
Agreed! Documentations are key assets
In general, I prefer written format. Easier to grasp key information, search.
The only inprovement of videos is to explain "not so clear" steps in something.
yes,Watch video need to spend more time
Depends on the situation, videos if i need something that's better learned via video like tutorial but generally the go to is written format cos documentation really does it's job for me
Written content
When I’m brand new to a subject, I benefit from videos, but after that, it is definitely not the form factor I’m looking for and prefer the more “random access” format.
Would the video be like a short video that explains the basics of the topic, or would it be a long video/course series?
I usually prefer written content. But videos are much better for some topics like frontend development.
Good point!
Articles for sure.
I can scroll through them easily, skipping parts that I already know or are not interesting for my use case. And can easily reread parts that are more complicated. It also allows me to quickly understand if it's even worth reading - with videos I find that I need to spend a few seconds to a minute to understand if it's relevant to me.
Video is a way overused medium in the tech space. I don't mind a good recorded talk at a conference, but if I watch that it's for the same reason I'd maybe attend a conference, which isn't generally to learn a specific thing so much as it is because the title and abstract draw me into a conversation of sorts and I have the time for that.
If I need to learn something I will always prefer the efficiency of something I can scan and read at whatever rate I need, jump around in, explore in directions I want.
To make matters even worse in the video space, there is some really atrocious stuff out there. The worst I have seen lately is folk posting YouTube's with Stack Overflow questions as the title, and then some really bad unrelated video of something else with, if you fast forward, screen shots of the Stack Overflow question and chosen answer read out in a canned voice. Painful experience.
As a rule, written form trumps in the learning surface and video rarely appeals.
To reduce carbon emission, I prefer article over video. Article can be cached by the browser while video are not. However, video has more potential to be monetize (thanks YT!) and gain more audience (dunno if it just a false positive number due platform popularity).
Serious answer: I prefer article that are mobile friendly (responsive layout + low energy impact) while give me decent illustration/diagram and interactivity. The interactive part can be embedded code editor (no <iframe> or foreign <script> please), dynamic component, or even a simple slide show.
PS: 10s video is actually good format for gaining audience
Both provide different learning experiences and can help you to learn.
This is a written medium, of course here you will get most people preferring written format. People who prefer videos are probably watching videos instead of being on medium 🤦🏽♂️