[easytiger]

> Sorry, what? Literally the first time I've heard anyone claim that textbooks are better than in-person one-on-one tutoring by an educator, which is what we're comparing to, right? (Getting help in-person from the TA.)

A huge number of software developers are autodidacts. The implication is you don't know many people.

[laughinghan]

I know plenty of autodidacts, and arguably was one. I'm almost certain not a single one would say that if they could've afforded to be tutored one-on-one instead of reading on their own, they would've still chosen reading on their own instead. They learned from textbooks because the cost and inconvenience of tutoring was prohibitive, not because they're like "pffft, the tutor was just slowing me down, in the time spent with them I would've learned way more from a textbook".

[reitanqild]

OK, here is one counterpoint.

I actively do avoid asking questions even when it is free.

Not only in computing. I really did not do to well on piano lessons. My siblings who where just taught the basics (IIRC) and then left to their own ended up playing the piano (and other instruments) because it was fun.

Of course in computing this is reinforced from time to time by e.g.:

- by visiting stackoverflow and see how many (IIRC again) of the questions that has helped me most are closed as not constructive,

- or by a colleague who seems they will use any opportunity to talk about something being junior-level stuff and then go on to waste a lot of everyones time by rewriting the whole thing.

[therealdrag0]

Having gone through two degrees, I have rarely found getting help from others to be more efficient than learning on demand myself. I definitely deliberately avoided tutoring apart form the occasional sampling.