Why do experts insist on making things so hard for others to understand? Is it a fear of losing their "expertise" label? Do they throw around buzzwords just to feel part of the "in" crowd?
Isn't there joy in being able to help the less enlightened person's eyes light up with understanding? Isn't it worthwhile to help another person share your appreciation and understanding for what you know so well?
Well, then why does so much of the teaching material available today suck? Why do I have to read explanations about a topic from five different books before I can really grok something? Is it that hard for people to remember how they felt when first learning something?
Yes, the situation has improved. There are some excellent technical writers these days, such as Mark Minasi, and Charles Petzold has always been clear. But the situation is still inconsistent at best. And way too many writers write like it hurts them to do so -- obviously they're in it to capitalize on being the first ones out with a book on a topic.
Where am I going with this?
I want to change this. I have an idea for a website that will attempt to teach without being condescending or obtuse. I grabbed the URL a few years ago, but never used it. It may take me another six months to a year to start it, though. You see, I'm procrastinating again. But I know why -- a few reasons:
- I want to learn ASP .NET enough to write the site using that.
- I didn't want to start the site with just a topic or two.
- I wanted to start this site initially to help me learn .NET -- it was going to be one of my tools for learning it. But it would require me to actually learn a topic or two inside-out.
Obviously, these are lame reasons for not starting the site:
- Uh, DUH -- how do I think I'm going to LEARN ASP .NET??
- Who cares? Do I think I need to document everything in the framework before I start?
- Double-DUH -- see # 1.
Like I warned you -- this blog is for helping me to kick my own ass.