Absolutely not. I'd rather have no documentation and start from scratch than be gaslit by an entire team of people telling me that the very obviously wrong documentation is correct and has been correct for 30 years
I think there's a difference between bad and wrong. Wrong documentation is incorrect. Bad documentation isn't really incorrect, it's just poorly executedb and mostly unhelpful.
Wrong documentation is still a pretty big problem, even without the gaslighting. Incomplete documentation is better than none; incorrect documentation is not.
I've had to use outdated documentation that made the problem worse. So I guess bad documentation is like bad, unprotected sex with a lot lizard that leaves you with an itching or burning sensation.
Respectfully disagree. Sometimes the documentation is so bad that you have more questions than answers and even then, what they provide still doesn't really explain how to do something with enough details. It's all literally shot in the dark and you're just left with leap of faith. * cough * Sonicwall * cough *
Last week I spent a day trying to figure out why the thing in the damn documentation doesn't work.
Turns out, for that project "latest" doesn't point to their latest release, but to what they currently have on their dev branch. And apparently they changed the whole module around since the last release.
I guess its also our culture where sex is seen as the most important thing in life. So everyone is convinced their entire value consists of how much mating they are doing. Maybe that would be true if we were breeding animals but we are not.
Maybe it can be translated into something else, like, "Documentation is like toilet paper, when it's good it's good, when it's bad it's better than nothing"? Or, "Documentation is like clothes, even if they are bad it's better than nothing", or "Documentation is like having something you need, it's better to have the thing you need even if is not good, than to not have the thing you need at all"?
I like the analogy with toilet paper.
Because when its bad, the very thing that was supposed to help you, got you covered in shit with no back out plan, making it that much worse.
Just consider most people really like sex, and some experience it as a very intense physical want to the point it makes sense that a bad version of it is better than none at all. Sort of similar to food. Better to have bad-tasting food and at least sate your hunger than to have nothing and starve.
Although, of course, it breaks down. The comments talk about actively harmful sex people wouldn't want as well as harmful documentation; bad sex and documentation is not actually always better than no sex or no documentation. In the analogy, this would be sex that gives you an STD, or documentation that sends you running in circles and misleads you.
I've found a lot of understanding sex comes with just understanding a lot of people really really want it and experience it as a nigh-on need. Maybe liken it to some intense desires you have, things you need to be happy that you nonetheless don't need to survive. (Of course, this is a generalization, I understand not all people with sexual desires have them this intensely. Some don't need it to be happy but would sure like it a lot. And some might even get it more mildly. But for the purpose of understanding more mainstream jokes, analogies, etc. about sex…)
When documentation is missing critical bits of information I don't know if its better than nothing. Spend ages and then have to raise a ticket saying its a bug because its not working as documented, when no documentation would have just been an instant ticket raised asking how its supposed to work. Because it turns out everything was working correctly and the customer had just set something up wrong but there was no documentation covering that bit so according to what we had, all looked good.
"Documentation is like sex: You're not getting any"
Damn haha, this made me laugh out loud
Someone's never read instructions autotranslated from Chinese and not checked for accuracy.
Well, sometimes I ask questions to the AI and makes the same sense.
Literally me yesterday trying to decipher Baidu’s PaddleOCR docs. Have half a mind to aim Claude Code at the URL and just be like ‘plz help’
Absolutely not. I'd rather have no documentation and start from scratch than be gaslit by an entire team of people telling me that the very obviously wrong documentation is correct and has been correct for 30 years
I think there's a difference between bad and wrong. Wrong documentation is incorrect. Bad documentation isn't really incorrect, it's just poorly executedb and mostly unhelpful.
I mean, incorrect documentation is clearly bad, so...
Seemed more like the problem was the gaslighting than the documentation.
Wrong documentation is still a pretty big problem, even without the gaslighting. Incomplete documentation is better than none; incorrect documentation is not.
I can name a few examples of this
That documentation sounds like marriage.
You ok?
Well also like sex, when it's really bad it's worse than nothing.
Completely incorrect - bad documentation can be actively harmful, wasting your time with its inaccuracies.
I've had to use outdated documentation that made the problem worse. So I guess bad documentation is like bad, unprotected sex with a lot lizard that leaves you with an itching or burning sensation.
I've been there... (In a work/corporate context, at least)
I'll leave 'the night work' out of it, however (damn, the glitter gets everywhere!)
Then you haven’t seen bad documentation (or had that sex you regret).
In general it’s supposed to be something good so it shouldn’t be harmful, but ofc exceptions exist, especially with sex, sadly…
Bad often equals "not super good" in this context
Incidentally, both bad sex and code documentation both involve std vectors.
Respectfully disagree. Sometimes the documentation is so bad that you have more questions than answers and even then, what they provide still doesn't really explain how to do something with enough details. It's all literally shot in the dark and you're just left with leap of faith. * cough * Sonicwall * cough *
Last week I spent a day trying to figure out why the thing in the damn documentation doesn't work.
Turns out, for that project "latest" doesn't point to their latest release, but to what they currently have on their dev branch. And apparently they changed the whole module around since the last release.
🙏
This meme was made by someone who has never had truly bad sex/documentation.
Is getting a face full of pussy that stinks like a litter box better than no pussy at all? 🤔
Good example! My point exactly!
Yup, op has never had the joy of the docs lying to them.
no.
Bad documentation could land you in prison.
Bad sex is just horrible all around.
not sure what this post is on about
I would say bad sex can land you in a prison too.
good point
When it's bad you think "Fuck this, I can do it better by myself."
Bad sex is not better than no sex.... Wtf... :)
the person who wrote this hasn't had bad sex yet
I guess its also our culture where sex is seen as the most important thing in life. So everyone is convinced their entire value consists of how much mating they are doing. Maybe that would be true if we were breeding animals but we are not.
It's different from person to person. The most consistent thing I've found is people trying to fit each other into a cultural box
weird, i do not know of this culture and I'm glad cuz I'd be worthless
As an asexual person this anology is very confusing
Maybe it can be translated into something else, like, "Documentation is like toilet paper, when it's good it's good, when it's bad it's better than nothing"? Or, "Documentation is like clothes, even if they are bad it's better than nothing", or "Documentation is like having something you need, it's better to have the thing you need even if is not good, than to not have the thing you need at all"?
I like the analogy with toilet paper. Because when its bad, the very thing that was supposed to help you, got you covered in shit with no back out plan, making it that much worse.
Very fitting
As a sexual person, I agree
Also asexual.
Just consider most people really like sex, and some experience it as a very intense physical want to the point it makes sense that a bad version of it is better than none at all. Sort of similar to food. Better to have bad-tasting food and at least sate your hunger than to have nothing and starve.
Although, of course, it breaks down. The comments talk about actively harmful sex people wouldn't want as well as harmful documentation; bad sex and documentation is not actually always better than no sex or no documentation. In the analogy, this would be sex that gives you an STD, or documentation that sends you running in circles and misleads you.
I've found a lot of understanding sex comes with just understanding a lot of people really really want it and experience it as a nigh-on need. Maybe liken it to some intense desires you have, things you need to be happy that you nonetheless don't need to survive. (Of course, this is a generalization, I understand not all people with sexual desires have them this intensely. Some don't need it to be happy but would sure like it a lot. And some might even get it more mildly. But for the purpose of understanding more mainstream jokes, analogies, etc. about sex…)
As an asexual person, you get just as much sex as most developers get documentation.
When it’s really bad, it can be far worse than nothing.
Documentation: use x function Reality: x function depreciated
What about when the sex is ... wrong?
When it's bad, it's life changing in a traumatic way.
Don't be virgins, document things
When documentation is missing critical bits of information I don't know if its better than nothing. Spend ages and then have to raise a ticket saying its a bug because its not working as documented, when no documentation would have just been an instant ticket raised asking how its supposed to work. Because it turns out everything was working correctly and the customer had just set something up wrong but there was no documentation covering that bit so according to what we had, all looked good.
What if the documentation is wrong?
Bro has never been at /moma
Deal, I've got plenty of small hobby projects that can use some!
There's this cool program called qalc. I stumble on to cool features in it that's not even listed in the documentation.
What about rape? Is that just chatgpt reworded documentation?
Oh dang, how long until some company just feeds their entire codebase into an llm and calls it documentation?
I guarantee it's already happened. The question is when a company large enough that you can't avoid it follows suit.
When something like python tries to force readability into your code without your consent?
That's why I always use a nonsensical class structure with stupid names; it's my chastity belt.
kinda uncomfortable this ignores concept of consent?
Sex is with consent. If there's no consent it's a rape
i agree!
Only if you assume it does.
That falls under WRONG. Lack of consent is WRONG but there’s also nothing worse than documentation that is WRONG.
Nothing worse than non-consensual documentation.
aka surveillance capitalism
It's not about consent. No one is suggesting rape