Re: Newbie in distress :-)

[Robert A Duff <bobduff@world.std.com>]

Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com> writes:

> I fear students are unlearning the technique of reading
> books, in favor of throwing a quick question to some newsgroup
> in the hopes of finding an answer.

The technique of *writing* books seems to be getting lost, too.
I can't count the number of computer programs I've used recently where I
want to read the manual, so I can learn everything this program can do.
But the documentation consists of a twisty maze of tiny snippets of
information connected together with hyper-links, in which I wander
aimlessly, re-reading the same paragraphs over and over...

Or am I just showing my age?

I used to do a lot of caving when I was in college -- crawling around
under the ground through dark passsageways without a map, but with a
carbide lantern ("I wonder where this one leads?"  "Have we been here
before?") getting all muddy, &c.  Reading documentation these days
reminds me of caving.

> I give them a reference manual for a completely new machine that
> I designed, a small machine, but not necessarily a simple one
> (last year, the machine was a small EPIC machine).

You mean they haven't seen the book until they get into the exam?  
I don't see the point of that -- why not let them read it ahead of time?

- Bob