It's sounds kinda silly, but sometimes I do feel like I'm making things unnecessarily hard for myself. Recently I decided to something that I never do. I wanted to build an SSH App using bubbletea, at first I did what I usually do, just look at the code examples and try and make sense of it. What would follow is a couple of days of fidgeting with the code to make it work. When I returned to try and make it work after dinner, I decided to read the entire doc from top to bottom. It took fifteen minutes total, and in another hour I fetched my blogs and was able to render it on the terminal. Since, I read the doc completely, I was able to understand the subtle concepts to make the App work as the writer intended. Also, was able to understand the mental modal of bubbletea Apps. It saved me a couple of days of trying to figure it out and the frustration that it accompanies. It sounds silly to write about it, but it works, who would have known :D. Plus, the whole experience was a lot less frictionless and frustrating.
Like a lot of habits, this one is something I've got to work on. I do find myself drifting towards old habits, I have to force myself to just take a few extra minutes now and avoid the urge to jump straight in. I'm starting to appreciate good documentation. The ones that convey the concept and the mental model required to implement the thing. It's definitely not always the case, but to be fair most of the documentation I've come across is quite good. All I need to do is take the time to read it.
I was talking to my friend about this new discovery and she couldn't stop laughing. And was like, "So you've decided to follow the instructions?". She mentioned that her husband never reads the instructions too. I wonder if it's a behavior mostly seen among men. Better late than never I suppose. It's a tiny thing, but it feels like a boost to my programming. If there was a list of under rated things that make you a better programmer, this one is going to the top of the list for me.
If you are curious about how the SSH App turned out, you can try it here:
ssh terminal.seagin.me
Have fun reading the friendly manuals :)