On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Peter Duniho <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As I said, no one ever suffered from having too many code samples. Again, I disagree. We are seeing an ever-increasing number of people on this list who don't care about learning Cocoa, they just want to piece together bits of code. As I mentioned previously, I believe that this will lead to a decrease in the quality of software. > Well, I refer you back to my previous statement: the English language only > gets you so far. Code is the one unambiguous, universally-understood > conveyance of a point regarding code. > > Yes, it's most often beneficial to have text that elaborates on the code. > In reality, the two combined provide the best illustration. But if I have > to choose between only one or the other, I will go with a correct code > example every time. That's because you don't really believe in conceptual documentation. I believe it's far too easy to miss the wood for the trees when you're trying to learn several design patterns at once just by looking at code. > Honestly, I'm surprised to have to reiterate this point. It's a common > enough problem in every communications medium I'm participated in, and it's > a constant refrain in forums such as this one to ask people asking questions > to provide clear, concise code examples rather than just trying to explain > in English what their problem is. I'd have thought this point was a given. Often on this list I see people answering very specific questions with "What are you actually looking to do with this? There may be a better approach." This is the very opposite of the "snippets illustrate best" school of thought, and the fact that many of this list's members take a holistic approach is one of the most valuable things about it. Hamish _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list ([email protected]) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
