Re^3: How to read CPAN documentation

I'm actually trying to send my JSON structure to Perl, and then have Perl send it to my DB. The problem is, I'm clueless, but that's a whole different thread.

Actually it isn't :) read below

So, my question to you is, how can I become better at reading CPAN module documentation, and understanding how to use modules that don't come with books or tutorials in them?

Become a seasoned Perl programmer -- increase your experience, increase your vocabulary, write and read more code (perl and not perl), read more operating system documentation, learn more about computers

Forget the synopsis and go straight for the MANIFEST, for example http://search.cpan.org/dist/CGI/MANIFEST, http://search.cpan.org/dist/JSON/MANIFEST, http://search.cpan.org/dist/Pod-Simple/MANIFEST

Read The Art of Unix Programming

Read What are the most basic, generic aspects of programming? / How to Design Programs

With enough practice/work, you don't have to keep referencing the docs on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, these things becomes part of your vocabulary/daily speech/thoughts. With enough practice you're seasoned.

Comment on Re^3: How to read CPAN documentation

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Re^4: How to read CPAN documentation by ww (Archbishop) on Jul 06, 2012 at 14:25 UTC
... and then, for OP's next career (or retirement), you can use the knowledge and skills that will take a major part of your lifetime to absorb to write the kind of sketchy documentation that only another long term, hard-core, CS-degree-holding, uber-geek can decipher. AnonyMonk's observation about reducing your need for the docs, "on a daily/weekly/monthly basis", could be read (admittedly, not as AM intended ) to suggest that there's a substantial amount of time required just to learn to read the docs en route to so mastering their content as to make them unnecessary. Sorry, while I agree that most of the links can be useful... and are responsive -- in a fashion -- to OP's original question, they set the price of learning the answer too high, IMO, for a learner with a specific project in hand. Here in the Monastery there have been several interesting discussions (for example, Re: A reasonable approach to getting a Perl skill foundation?) of aspects of this problem -- some from the POV of the developer, like the one cited, and some from the perspective of the learner ( check with Super Search ) and not a few that may seem merely tangential at first (cf: Re: The sourcecode is the documentation, isn't it? and 3 or 4 followups thereto).	[reply]
Re^5: How to read CPAN documentation by Anonymous Monk on Jul 06, 2012 at 14:47 UTC
Your observation about reducing your need for the docs, "on a daily/weekly/monthly basis", could be read (admittedly, not as you intended ) to suggest that there's a substantial amount of time required just to learn to read the docs en route to so mastering their content as to make them unnecessary. Sure, if you're purposefully trying to read between the lines Sorry, while I agree that most of the links can be useful... and are responsive -- in a fashion Well, that is how you become a seasoned programmer, so you can just go on CPAN and pick it up in no time -- to OP's original question, they set the price of learning the answer too high, IMO, for a learner with a specific project in hand. If you think so, why don't you lower the price? perl.j has history of both generic and specific questions, he knows how to SOPW, he wasn't asking for help with a project, he merely alluded to it.	[reply]


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