How reading documentation helps 📗📖
Tags: productivity, tutorial, architecture, react
Published: 2019-12-04 19:07:59

_I started learning react 3 days ago. Being used to learning technologies from video tutorials (e.g youtube) which are easy to grasp and follow, this time **I decided I would try learning it from their official documentation instead**._

#### I created a Tic-Tac-Toe game following their tutorial at https://reactjs.org/tutorial/

![Alt Text](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/i9ous2jpugz7oduwsmqb.png)

_**Following are some of the lessons I have drawn from my own first experience**:_

### 1 - Reading code is a skill in itself.


_Working on your own projects is great, but also note that we get used to **doing things our own way** and once we start finding a workaround for getting the expected output, our learning curve decreases and we become bound to certain way of coding_

It may just be a simple task like traversing an array or complex algorithms which we haven't optimised, reading other developer's code helps us learn new thinking methodologies and identifying methods which are officially available but we may not have exposure towards it. 

Reading code is a much important skill than coding as it increases our knowledge base and helps us optimise our code, it is a skill which requires regular practice.

Video tutorials are great for diving into technologies, but official documentations offer a much deeper understanding of how the language supports different architecture.

### 2 - Be patient and give everything a closure.

_Reading documentation may be boring or difficult at start, but it will eventually help boost concentration, make sure you **finish what you start**._

**_Yes, you will not understand many things_**. Documentations are in-depth, they aim to provide the most precise information hence end up being complicated for beginners. Most of them will link sub-sections or completely different sections to explain something in-depth. Don't worry if you don't grasp all of it, make sure you grasp the basics of it 😃.
⏱️Patience is the key.

❌Do not start many things at a time. Multi-tasking is not a good option when we want to try something new. Make sure you follow a strict order, start with smaller yet beneficial sections.

There might be times when you start many projects and end up finishing none of them and keep shuffling between technologies. Giving time to the project and taking them one at a time will help you in this case. 


### 3 - Get the best out of it.

_**Content is just one of the things you should look for in documentation.**_

A well designed documentation will teach you a lot more than just the concept

For example: 
  1. The Architecture that technology follows, what is considered as good and bad practice and why.
  2. The structure of the documentation may help you understand the flow in which you are expected to learn.

This part is more about you and what you choose to learn from your experience

### 4 - Get Correct and updated information

_**Why wait for a video to come up for every updated version of technology?**_

Learning from documentation will definitely give you an in-depth understanding of the technology and will provide updated and accurate information.

### 5 - Practice clean code and documentation.


_The art of documentation will help you work better in a collaborative environment like git_

Practice writing readme files, clean code, commits, articles and document your work 



# Feel free to share your experiences and thank you for reading 🙌😄