Reading source vs having hands on skills

ReDress · 2026-08-09 07:18:09

Hello,

I have little bit of a problem where it's very hard for me to figure out how software works except I have access to and read the source code.

I have been thinking about this for a while and haven't exactly come to a solution yet. Playing with a software up until you figure out how it works could be also a way of learning a software.

But, after thinking about it, then I have come to the conclusion that this is not what people who are familiar with softwares have been doing. Instead, it seems like they primarily rely on books as source materials.

At the end of the day, I think there's no problem with reading source codes.

Any thoughts?

dimich · 2026-08-09 08:40:18

What do you mean by "how software works"? Does knowing "how it works" mean knowing:
How to predict its behavior (output) by known input?
How to compose input to achieve desired behavior?
What does it do underhood to transform input to output?

ReDress · 2026-08-09 08:44:11

dimich wrote:

What do you mean by "how software works"? Does knowing "how it works" mean knowing:

Being familiar enough that you can be productive with the software.

seth · 2026-08-09 14:14:29

1. there's a manpage
2. there's some other documentation
3. it's intuitive GUI
4. it's a simple to read/understand enough script
5. it's shit software nobody needs to be using

You're however not going to master eg. blender by reading its source code.
Some software is complicated because it's meant to fulfill really complicated tasks…

ReDress · 2026-08-09 14:25:08

seth wrote:

You're however not going to master eg. blender by reading its source code.
Some software is complicated because it's meant to fulfill really complicated tasks…

I know, there's a lot of complicated software but the assigned task is never complicated. Complications tend to generate incrementally.

Someone who is familiar with blender, could, for instance, split complicated task to ...ahem... juniors then wait for results from each task and combine into final expected outcome - heh

aminepro · 2026-08-09 14:51:05

https://www.youtube.com/@TsodingDaily this is how software works

ReDress · 2026-08-09 15:07:31

aminepro wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/@TsodingDaily this is how software works

I don't dispute that the guy is nerdy or a nerd but I'm very sure he's not describing how software works but rather mostly just nerdy ramblings...

aminepro · 2026-08-09 19:03:56

try this one then https://www.youtube.com/@Tsoding

ReDress · 2026-08-10 04:46:39

aminepro wrote:

try this one then https://www.youtube.com/@Tsoding

Now this is more technical but based on yesterday's discussion then it would be safe to assume that Tsoding is a 'desktop' user and this wouldn't align with my interest(s).

Arch Linux

#1 2026-08-09 07:18:09

Reading source vs having hands on skills

#2 2026-08-09 08:40:18

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#3 2026-08-09 08:44:11

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#4 2026-08-09 14:14:29

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#5 2026-08-09 14:25:08

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#6 2026-08-09 14:51:05

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#7 2026-08-09 15:07:31

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#8 2026-08-09 19:03:56

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

#9 2026-08-10 04:46:39

Re: Reading source vs having hands on skills

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