

Ask HN: Do you learn more from Tutorials? - joeclef

Most tutorials tend to provide a step by step solution. But I feel like I would learn more if I had to figure things out on my own. Does anyone else feel the same way?
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codegeek
For me, a good tutorial explains the "why" and not just the "how" or "what".
So even though step by step tutorial can be useful, if they don't teach the
why, I don't find them too effective.

Also about figuring things on your own, the point of any good tutorial is to
give you directions. You still have to figure things out on your own. You
always do. But a good tutorial can at least tell you where to look to figure a
specific thing out.

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WritelyDesigned
I' a pretty visual person myself. So I find that watching a video tutorial and
then immediately trying to put it into practice myself seems to be a winning
combo. But of course, everyone is different and some learn more effectively
with other means (reading, audio, etc.).

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b_t_s
I arguably learn things more _thoroughly_ slogging through the docs. But only
if it is important enough to justify the much higher initial effort, otherwise
I don't learn them at all.

However, I learn more things faster from tutorials because they(assuming
they're any good) give a high level overview and show how the pieces fit
together to actually get something done. That is something a lot of official
docs do poorly or not at all. And if it is a topic I'm actually interested in
and use regularly, I'll eventually spend plenty of time with the official docs
& learn it in detail.

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kzisme
It really depends on what I am trying to do and the type of tutorial.

The more detailed the better and if it explains pit-falls as well it's nice.

But if you considering SO a "tutorial" or something like fixing small problems
- then no I don't learn much it's mostly quick fixes and I'm off.

It comes down to the details and how much time an author puts into a post -
Quality comes secondary (ie: authors primary spoken language)

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MichaelCrawford
I learn from the kind if tutorials that are linked from HN, but if I google
for a tutorial many have little useful information but lots of ads.

My own tutorials often focus on underlying principles rather than srep-by-step
solutions. If the solution doesnt apply bevause the problem is different, say
because a new release changed the UI of the software that the tutorial
discusses, understanding the principles may enabke you to work out your own
solution.

