How To Read Tech Docs: A Neurodivergent-Friendly Guide

Accessible reading of coding documents. So as we all know I am neurodivergent (very very neurodivergent) and I need things to be a little more accessible for me. I need things to be broken down into little steps.

So here without further ado are some small steps on how to break into, read, and access, some new coding documentation.

How to approach a code convention I don't understand by using the documentation.

My colleague taught me how to do this today and I am so so so grateful, and it will be so so so useful to me in future. 

Of course I have done this before but this is just a really good consolidation of the method!

I have added in extra steps that are needed for people like me.

The extra accessibility steps are marked with an asterisk*.

1. Google the syntax you are looking for. In my case today, it was `auto_now_add` and `auto_now` in Python.

2. Follow the links to the docs. 

Wherein you are presented with some links to the official documentation for a language or a framework or something, then this is most probably the best place to go to first. Of course there are other options - but the best place to start is the official documentation.

3. Try to read the docs.

My colleague uses ctr+f to find the keywords and to go to the relevant bits. He then might click through them and try and read until something makes sense.

4. * : WRITE DOWN THE CODING CONVENTIONS AND WHAT THEY MIGHT BE LINKING TO IN THE DOCS.

SO FOR EXAMPLE: This.

I had a problem today because my variables were written like this: `auto_add_now` came first in the codebase and `auto_add` came second in the codebase.

However, in the documentation `auto_add` came first and `auto_add_now` came second. HAD I WRITTEN THEM BOTH OUT, I could've lined it all up, and realised that each of the definitions lined up with the different one. Then I could've drawn it all together. However FROM JUST STARING ONTO THE SCREEN - I couldn't figure it out on my own.

(If you think I'm dumb - I have 3 degrees and I am a software engineer. I can't be THAT dumb).

5. PUT IT INTO CHAT GPT: If the docs still don't make sense to you and you NEED SOME EXAMPLES.

OR, if you can't read the docs because they are too long for you (like they can be for me) you can ask Chat GPT for help.

- You can paste in the docs and ask for a summary

- Or if your LINE OF CODE is completely generic you can paste it in but has to be completely generic

- Or you can make up your own examples or hash the data in examples or make up your own creative examples which alter the structure of the code as well but still actually help you to answer the specific problem

Sometimes you don't need the whole codeblock and when making up your own example you can just do it with a small amount of the codebase anyway. Or alternatively you can make your own big example up - it helps you to learn anyway as my colleague has said - and as I've found also.

6. * Ask for a summary of a summary

I need to do this all the time, and I AM NOT ASHAMED of this.

If the summary is too long I ask for a shorter summary.

And so on.

Then, I can go back to the longer summary, and read it. And then the docs.