Founder & CEO @ Wolk Software | EP @ JSConfIE | Former TypeScript Microsoft MVP, writer, speaker technology-lover and OSS enthusiast. Author of InversifyJS.
What do you think about cases in which is very hard to get started? For example, create a new project with React and Webpack? It is now easy thanks to create-react-app but about a year ago was a nightmare and the online documentation was not easy to follow for beginners.
I think, if the main documentation for a tech/library is not good enough, then that tech/library is not good enough to trust/use.
ReactJS documentation is great since day 1, i've done many projects with React without any learning materials.
Rails is another example for good documentation and ecosystem documentation (most of documentation for Ruby gems is superb).
And many others ... too.
Thats not actually true. There are good resources over there that give you great insight on how things works and how to apply the best practices. They are made from domain experts who spent time and effort to compile the best resources for you.
You can say that you save time by learning what's needed. So you pay for your time saved plus their expertise and effort. And one thing you cannot afford to waste in your life is time, especially if you have more responsibilities.
Documentation alone is not enough as it only touches simple cases. You need to keep an eye on public articles also explaining how organisations use that particular piece of technology.
You might get stuck the chicken-egg problem . The problem is, in order for you to know if a learning material is good enough for you, you have to:
Search that material by some ways (google, blogging,...)
Afford that material (or just read/watch if it's free)
Really spend time learning that materials.
So the whole process is actually NOT WORTH your time and your effort.
Good learning materials are very subjective topic.
So in general case, i don't recommend it if you're not an experienced reader.
That's why, my 1st comment is the most pragmatic way to achieve real knowledge.
If you are an experienced reader, you pick you battles. You may know what you need to learn next without further ado.
If you are not an experienced reader or just clueless you need peer recommendations, or someone who knows or recommends some good resources. Reviews here count. Ask and you will get some good ones. Plus having to see a free demo is easier and quicker than starting to build on your own Facebook just to understand how websites work. You can do this more efficiently.
Now if it's actually NOT WORTH your time and your effort is subjective, because in the short run you always have to spend some time searching anyway.
In a long run, I strongly believe that if you find the right material that will guide you through the process in a clear and concise way, coupled with a good narrative is priceless and I would more than happy to spend the extra buck to use this as a learning helper.
For example I would pay for this material here. It just happens to be free but its of a very good quality.
Most of learning materials is a waste of time to me.
What you really need is :
Repeat.
What do you think about cases in which is very hard to get started? For example, create a new project with React and Webpack? It is now easy thanks to create-react-app but about a year ago was a nightmare and the online documentation was not easy to follow for beginners.
I think, if the main documentation for a tech/library is not good enough, then that tech/library is not good enough to trust/use.
ReactJS documentation is great since day 1, i've done many projects with React without any learning materials.
Rails is another example for good documentation and ecosystem documentation (most of documentation for Ruby gems is superb).
And many others ... too.
Thats not actually true. There are good resources over there that give you great insight on how things works and how to apply the best practices. They are made from domain experts who spent time and effort to compile the best resources for you.
You can say that you save time by learning what's needed. So you pay for your time saved plus their expertise and effort. And one thing you cannot afford to waste in your life is time, especially if you have more responsibilities.
Documentation alone is not enough as it only touches simple cases. You need to keep an eye on public articles also explaining how organisations use that particular piece of technology.
You might get stuck the chicken-egg problem . The problem is, in order for you to know if a learning material is good enough for you, you have to:
So the whole process is actually NOT WORTH your time and your effort.
Good learning materials are very subjective topic.
So in general case, i don't recommend it if you're not an experienced reader.
That's why, my 1st comment is the most pragmatic way to achieve real knowledge.
If you are an experienced reader, you pick you battles. You may know what you need to learn next without further ado.
If you are not an experienced reader or just clueless you need peer recommendations, or someone who knows or recommends some good resources. Reviews here count. Ask and you will get some good ones. Plus having to see a free demo is easier and quicker than starting to build on your own Facebook just to understand how websites work. You can do this more efficiently.
Now if it's actually NOT WORTH your time and your effort is subjective, because in the short run you always have to spend some time searching anyway.
In a long run, I strongly believe that if you find the right material that will guide you through the process in a clear and concise way, coupled with a good narrative is priceless and I would more than happy to spend the extra buck to use this as a learning helper.
For example I would pay for this material here. It just happens to be free but its of a very good quality.
internetingishard.com/