Slow down, Read API documentation and Tutorials

I remember the days of reading API documentation, and figuring things out and experiencing a joy having done so. The experience was enriching and that’s really what enabled me keep doing it, because of a sense of joy I derive from it. I remember the days, when that was just how things happened.

Now, my first call is to open my favorite LLM powered tool and ask it to do what I need to be done. I get the result I want, sometimes almost too easily. And I can get stuff done, but I miss out on the enriching experience of figuring things out.

I was never the kind of person who was good at reading guides and learning things. I am and have generally been a person who builds things and then learns about stuff in the process. If I bring in my LLM powered tools now to build, I pretty much miss out on the enriching experience that I derive from having figured out how to do what I wanted to do.

And now, when I take the rare opportunity to actually sit down, set aside time for solving a problem, I go read the API documentation and other people’s blog posts and actually learn how to do it. Well, I know, I can also ask LLM to teach me how to do it, but in the mad rush of getting things done, I rarely do.

So, this is a post to serve a reminder in my own journey to slow down and enjoy the process, when I can. Because, it is the process I also enjoyed and in most cases, why I am still doing what I have been now doing for 25+ years, in some form or another.