Figuring out how to build a project in an unfamiliar language/build system is my least favourite activity, mainly because all the people who are familiar with those tools think it's "as simple as" and don't bother to write it down anywhere. I don't plan on learning every build system ever.
It would be interesting to know what kinds of responses humans offer across different values of Y such as:
1) looked on stack overflow
2) googled it
3) consulted the manual
4) asked an LLM
5) asked a friend
For each of these, does the learner somehow learn something more or better?
Is there some means of learning that doesn't degrade us as human beings according to those in the know?
I ask as someone who listens to audiobooks and answers yes when someone asks me if I've read the book. And that's hardly the extent of my transgressions.
At least if you're copy/pasting from stack overflow you presumably glanced at the change you are copying if only to ensure you select the correct text.
That would be a great reason to include the link. Would have been good idea for me to think about that 5-10 years ago. I just did it because I thought it might be helpful and it's cheap. Woops!
Ok but I'd argue Rust/Cargo shouldn't be an "unfamiliar language/build system" for most professional programmers these days. It's like a professional plumber being unfamiliar with solder. Like, yeah, you can do a lot without soldering, but imagine a pro just straight up not having a clue about solder.
It's worth learning how to do this stuff. Not just because you then know that particular build system, but because you get better at learning. Learning how to learn is super important. I haven't come across a new project that's taken me more than a few minutes to figure out how to build in years.
> Ok but I'd argue Rust/Cargo shouldn't be an "unfamiliar language/build system" for most professional programmers these days.
This isn't even close to true. The majority of programmers will be fine going their entire career without even knowing what Rust is, let alone how to build Rust projects.
A more accurate analogy would be a plumber not knowing how his wrench was manufactured.
Rust ranks 16th on the current TIOBE (https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/), behind assembly, PHP and R. It is still not remotely as popular (as "based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors") as C or C++ (to say nothing of how dominant Python has become).
The supposed ubiquity of Rust is the result of a hype and/or drama bubble.
