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Examples Are the Best Documentation

https://rakhim.exotext.com/examples-are-the-best-documentation
24•Bogdanp•8h ago

Comments

willquack•7h ago
Code examples can be executed as unit tests to prevent documentation regressions / bitrot in ways human language can't
theamk•6h ago
Examples are best only for the beginner/occasional users. For more experience devs, you want regular docs, with full parameter list.

Case in point: requests. Google always drops me to the pages like Quickstart[0], which are full of examples. But they are useless for advanced users! Yes, even my limited brain can remember that you call "get" to issue HTTP GET. What other options does it take? Does it take a timeout? How do I pass in content-type? Does raise_for_status ignore 204?

Both have their merits, but if developer only has time for one, I'd go for proper doc.

[0] https://requests.readthedocs.io/en/latest/user/quickstart/

happytoexplain•5m ago
Examples are often crucially valuable, not just for beginners. Some of them can inject in five seconds an understanding equivalent to an hour of reading the very-objective docs and experimenting. I'm thinking of some git doc pages.

The developer has time for neither or both. Once the productivity barrier for one has been broken, the other is a tiny extra effort. In that case, they must provide both, except in the small minority of cases that are exceptionally self-describing.

xchip•5h ago
also unit tests
NedF•4h ago
This is why LLMs won.

Useless documentation means half-arsed is better.

The world of IT is broken, what sort of idiot gives Linux to their parents when as a trained developer man is so useless?

It's just excuse after excuse. Unit tests are documentation sort of garbage.

That's what's mind blowing about LLMs, IT devs are so bad LLMs are better. Hacker News comments also confirm this.

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