From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,c7ec20d43aed6e2c X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Robert A Duff Subject: Re: Newbie in distress :-) Date: 1999/10/25 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 540412082 Sender: bobduff@world.std.com (Robert A Duff) References: <7urnh6$4ov$1@news2.inter.net.il> <7usf0h$du2$1@ash.prod.itd.earthlink.net> <7utnh6$gjs$1@nnrp1.deja.com> Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1999-10-25T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Robert Dewar 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