Hasty Treat - Reading Documentation

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes dive into documentation - how to avoid common pitfalls and overwhelm, as well as how to read, understand and get the most out of documentation.

Sentry - Sponsor

If you want to know what’s happening with your errors, track them with Sentry. Sentry is open-source error tracking that helps developers monitor and fix crashes in real time. Cut your time on error resolution from five hours to five minutes. It works with any language and integrates with dozens of other services. Syntax listeners can get two months for free by visiting Sentry.io and using the coupon code “tastytreat”.

Show Notes

5:10 - What are the different kinds of documentation?

• Tutorials

• Docs

• API references

• Video docs

• Examples of good documentation

  • Stripe
  • Next.js Examples
  • New PayPal Docs
  • Gatsby
  • Jest
  • Meteor

14:34 - How to read documentation

• Understanding how you learn will save you lots of time

16:03 - Understanding Parameters

• Parameter types
• Required / Optional
• Parameter order

22:45 - How do you tackle learning something new?

• Look at some examples
• Scan the entire docs to get an idea of the surface area
• Have something specific in mind that you want to build

27:34 - What to do when the docs suck?

• Look at other people’s code
• Chat rooms
• Tests for examples
• Read the source code
• Github search
• Contribute

Tweet us your tasty treats!

• Scott’s Instagram
• LevelUpTutorials Instagram
• Wes’ Instagram
• Wes’ Twitter
• Wes’ Facebook
• Scott’s Twitter
• Make sure to include @SyntaxFM in your tweets

Episode source