I also agree with most of it, apart from that. I actually think this advice comes from the different ways people learn. And if you don't learn the way the author does, this advice feels wrong and jarring.
I learn by doing, not reading. If I read something but don't actually use it I'm liable to forget it. My brain seems to classify it as "not practical, not needed". If I do actually use it, however, I tend to learn it quickly.
So for me documentation is pretty terrible, reading how something works doesn't help, I need to see examples. When I see something in action, I actually learn it. Even copy/pasting works as I'll poke at the copied code, changing variables, playing with params, add/remove comments, etc. No code is ever just copied, it's always manipulated, cleaned up, unnecessary cruft removed.
And there's a whole load of documentation out there that has no examples, or really poor examples that don't relate to how you want to use something.
And for me with an API that doesn't make "sense" I find it really hard to ever remember. Like SQL Server's "OVER" clause, I've used it intermittently over the years and every time I come to use it, I have to re-learn it again. I find those sort of APIs really frustrating.
Different way people learn, and different way they create. Other creative fields have that dichotomy too, but i guess we are closer to math, and always try to find "correct way" of doing things, while our field is actually really flexible and allowing for a lot of self expression.
I learn by doing, not reading. If I read something but don't actually use it I'm liable to forget it. My brain seems to classify it as "not practical, not needed". If I do actually use it, however, I tend to learn it quickly.
So for me documentation is pretty terrible, reading how something works doesn't help, I need to see examples. When I see something in action, I actually learn it. Even copy/pasting works as I'll poke at the copied code, changing variables, playing with params, add/remove comments, etc. No code is ever just copied, it's always manipulated, cleaned up, unnecessary cruft removed.
And there's a whole load of documentation out there that has no examples, or really poor examples that don't relate to how you want to use something.
And for me with an API that doesn't make "sense" I find it really hard to ever remember. Like SQL Server's "OVER" clause, I've used it intermittently over the years and every time I come to use it, I have to re-learn it again. I find those sort of APIs really frustrating.