Do you actually read documentation, or just search it when you’re stuck? (programming.dev)

submitted 3 months ago by CoderSupreme@programming.dev to c/programming@programming.dev

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I’ve been switching from Vim to Helix recently. I did the built-in tutor, and whenever I need to configure something, I look it up in the docs. The problem is, I only find what I already know to look for. Without reading the documentation more broadly, I don’t really know what I can configure in the first place.

So I’m curious, do you sit down and read documentation to understand a tool, or do you just search it when you hit a specific problem?

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[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 13 points 3 months ago

I read the part I'm using. So if I'm configuring something I look through all the available options. But I wouldn't look through every functionality that's available.

Or if I'm working with a library I look at an overview of what classes are available and when I'm using a class I look at what that can do. But I won't look at every single part. That would overwhelm me.

this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025

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