What's Wrong with the New MSDN Libraries
-
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
-
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
You'd be better off using Google to search MSDN online. I agree with your points, but MSDN has always sucked when it came to actually finding info. Jeremy Falcon
-
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
I really enjoy the 3-4 inches of lost screen space when I get to my topics because I had to browse so deep into the tree to get to the end nodes that the indentation gets intrusive. ;P But really, it has been a lifesaver from time to time so I tend not to complain to loudly about it. There I go again jinxing something by stating that I like it. I guess we can all just kiss MSDN bye-bye since that seems to be the effect I have anymore...If I like it, it goes away fairly quickly. I have foot in mouth disease once again. (Now if I said I love .NET, do you think it just might...? Nahh. I couldn't get that lucky)
-
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
I believe the problem is mainly due to information overload. There is far too much information now than in the times of VS6.
-
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
With all there are trying to produce, I would think it would be best for them to make thier documentation more "wikl" like and less rigid. If the entire community contributed, we would have decent documentation fairly shortly. Even if just the Microsoft community (those employed by Microsoft) had this ability, we would probably see a lot better documentation. I know, I spend a fair amount of time browsing Microsoft employees blogs, looking for more information on new technologies. Rocky <>< Latest Post: SQL2005 Server Managemnet Studio timeouts! Blog: www.RockyMoore.com/TheCoder/[^]
-
You'd be better off using Google to search MSDN online. I agree with your points, but MSDN has always sucked when it came to actually finding info. Jeremy Falcon
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
but MSDN has always sucked when it came to actually finding into.
That depends, although I don't know on what. Sometimes I find real gems in there, but at other times, it's completly void of relevant information. I generally do this: 1) I search the index 2) If I find what I'm looking for, I'm done 3) If I find information which references what I'm looking for, I synchronize the current article with the TOC, and see if I find anything by context. 4) If I still haven't found anything, I perform a search. I pick a hit, and see if it's what I'm looking for. If I don't i pick the next hit, and see if that's what I'm looking for. I keep repeating this 10-20 times, depending on the hit titles' relevance. Of course, I synchronize the current article with the TOC and see if I can find anything within the article's context. 5) I google for it I'd say 50% of the time I manage with the 4 first points.
-
You'd be better off using Google to search MSDN online. I agree with your points, but MSDN has always sucked when it came to actually finding info. Jeremy Falcon
Agreed. I always liked how Visual Studio pops up COM methods from some god-forsaken Windows Media Player interface widget instead of Win32 API calls :|.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
You'd be better off using Google to search MSDN online. I agree with your points, but MSDN has always sucked when it came to actually finding info. Jeremy Falcon
I recently added this macro to 2005:
Sub GoogleSearch() DTE.ExecuteCommand("View.WebBrowser", "http://www.google.com") End SubI don't even bother with MSDN search anymore. At one time you could search for the exact title of an article, and it would be returned #35 in the search results. Montreal great Guy Lafleur, quoted by CBC on being mugged while vacationing recently in Buenos Aires: "I didn't have any time to react before I got a sucker-punch in the eye. It was like one of the players from the Bruins." -
Here is what I see is wrong with the new MSDN libraries that ship with VS 2005: 1. There has been a trend to "refactor" the documentation to extreme levels. This means that it is not possible to find coherent information about a given topic all on one page. The design requires that you drill down to soo many different topics, following soo many different paths through the library, that it becomes almost impossible to form a mental picture of what you are trying to learn. 2. The "over-factorization" of the library also means that you have much less chance of finding the information you are looking for, because the information may be hiding in that one link you didn't follow. I have been trying all morning to answer a simple question with information from the library, but it has been impossible. The simple question is: What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
Troposphere wrote:
What are the minimum files that MFC 8.0 needs to run, and where do they need to be installed?
I used the info in this thread and others at MSDN: http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=215346&SiteID=1 Montreal great Guy Lafleur, quoted by CBC on being mugged while vacationing recently in Buenos Aires: "I didn't have any time to react before I got a sucker-punch in the eye. It was like one of the players from the Bruins."
