[penguin_booze]

> others need the abstraction before the examples provide the most benefit

Would anyone need examples if they understand the abstraction? They can stamp out their own examples, can't they?

Needing examples after you've a grasp at the abstraction would be like saying 'I need help coming down this zip line', where as discovering or arriving at the abstraction is the result of working through and distilling n number of examples. To relate to the analogy, that's like climbing the hill in the first place.

[dr_kiszonka]

I find that people often think they understand an abstraction, but examples either expose that they don't or add deeper insight.

[penguin_booze]

Yes, that was my gist--that, examples introducing examples gives you a feel of the landscape, and assists you to arrive at the abstraction yourself. The abstraction feels like your own rather than something forced upon you.