Read the Friendly Manual (RTFM)

When I was learning Vim, I kept hearing the phrase "Read the friendly manual" from TJ. At first, I thought it was just a fun Vim community saying, but then I noticed that TJ would emphasize the word "friendly" in a way that made me think twice.

I decided to Google the phrase and was surprised to find that the first result was RTFM, which stood for "Read the fucking manual." I couldn't believe I had missed this internet meme for so long.

However, the phrase has become a valuable lesson for me. For example, when I was leading the effort to add Tanstack Query to our frontend repository at work, I realized that if I wanted to be a strong advocate for the technology, I needed to RTFM. I spent some time reading through the entire documentation, and as a result, I learned a lot and became a resource on the topic.

In the past, when learning a new tool, I would often skim through the parts that I thought were important and then dive right in. While this approach may seem like the fastest way to get started, it's actually slower in the long run. Here's why:

Firstly, when you encounter an issue, you'll need to go back to the documentation to find the relevant section. If you've already read through the docs, you'll either already know the answer or be able to quickly look it up.

Secondly, reading the documentation helps you understand what's possible and what's not. You won't waste time searching for features that don't exist. By RTFM, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how the tool works.

I've applied this mindset to other areas of my learning as well. When I was learning Go, I read the entire book. I was amazed at how much I learned from RTFM that I wouldn't have discovered otherwise.

Similarly, when working with React, I found the new React documentation to be incredibly helpful. It's surprising how many people use React without fully understanding how it works or why certain approaches are better than others. Even after working with React full-time for five years, I learned many new things from reading the documentation.

My advice to you is to RTFM! You'll never regret it.