How to learn to understand the documentation? In what language should it be read?

Question

Laravel

I write in Laravel, but all the knowledge I gained came from watching tutorials and reading articles on specific topics that interest me. For example, I needed to learn how to create api and use them from the frontend, I read a couple of articles about it, learned about the postman program and also fixed the material by watching a couple of series of lessons on youtube. Then I reproduced the application shown in one of the courses and understanding came.

When I read the documentation, everything comes to me tightly. Some unfamiliar terms spoil everything. This applies to situations where the dock is in English. I know English, but unfamiliar sections are incomprehensible to me.

If I look at some course in English on youtube. then everything is clear. Perhaps because those course authors themselves use English only at a basic level of vocabulary.

However, many of the Gurus on this site chide people for not reading the documentation. I want you to advise how to learn how to read the Laravel documentation. I read and don't fully understand. I'm missing examples.

Of course, if I already know the material, for example, Eloquent, then I look in the dock to remind me how to do it and everything is clear to me there. But if any section. with which I have not yet worked in practice, it turns out that unlearned material remains in my head after reading. Most likely I'm just stupid.

Another thing, if you take, for example, php. You know that there is some kind of command, you find it in the manual to remember its syntax, and everything is clear there, because you know what you are looking for. Plus there are still examples always shown. There is no such thing in Laravel. There are few examples. Is it for people to buy access to Laracasts? Will buying access solve the problem?

Or does the skill of understanding documentation improve with practice? It’s just easier for me to absorb the material when a blogger with charisma, a beautiful writing style, the skill of correctly expressing thoughts describes everything. And the dock was written in English by people with a different mentality, and when it is also translated into Russian, then everything turns out somehow awkwardly.

Help to learn in general.

Answer 1

A beginner should not understand a concise guide. Read it at least 10 times a day. documentation is not about training at all. this is a quick spec reminder for the pros. if the brain does not immediately perceive it, then everything is in order with you and you have no deviations. you can not engage in garbage and normally learn in all available ways. and when you mature, you yourself will climb there constantly, maybe this is the fastest way.

Answer 2

At the beginner level, there is nothing wrong with watching guides. If I need to apply a new technology with an emphasis on practice - I often look for videos on it on YouTube. But if you work with the same Laravel for a long time, you will understand that the documentation is much faster and easier than searching for videos, especially when you only need a reference or a small piece of code with an example. I personally didn’t have any problems with examples, most of the framework’s APIs seemed clear to me right away, and there are enough basic examples to remember how to write a migration, for example, in the dock.
In any case, getting into a new technology without understanding all the underlying patterns and principles through the dock can be difficult. For example, in a video guide, before using a framework feature, you may well be explained why it is needed, what task it solves and what alternatives there are. Documentation is rarely provided with such details.

The gurus on this site blame people for not reading the documentation.

I think this reproach is more likely that people either google badly, or simply do not try to find the docks section where the solution to the question they ask can be found. What you are asking is a little different.
By the way, you can try to give specific examples of where you didn’t have enough code or where there were obscure terms.

Answer 3

To be honest, the Laravel doc is not the most understandable, and it is easy to read it only when there is a lot of experience. I often wanted to send a link to the doc with certain answers, and I didn’t find this information in the new version of the documentation, it turned out that it was easier to send a link to the source code on github or an answer from the Laracasts forum.
It is useful to improve the base on OO design, to see how the functionality can be implemented outside the framework or on other frameworks, it is useful to learn how to read the source code (it is easy in PHPStorm). Laracasts is good for life hacks and first dive

Answer 4

You need to read several times. Read, reproduce the examples, see the result, take notes. The dock is gorgeous and until you master it, you shouldn’t go into articles, there are squeezes from the docks and not the most relevant, just fill your head with garbage.
For the first time you can find documentation in Russian. And then the original is better. If English is bad, use a translator, there are plug-ins for the browser that translate the highlighted, it is easier to understand in the context ( https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-t... ).