So far my biggest roadblock in all this is when it comes up with the 'function-definition is not allowed here before '{' token' or 'XX' was not declared in this scope' errors, as at my level of competence I have real trouble in resolving them.
I used to write assembly language on PICs, but it became more and more obvious that I needed to learn C. I was lucky in having 2 friends teaching me. I did however have many of the same problems you highlight, maybe not the exact same ones but simple things that cause pain in the arse errors. I know how easy it is to look at simple code and not see the blindingly obvious error. I still do it, the errors are different, but the ability to stare at them and not see them is the same. For me the solution is to go and do something else, get some sleep and come back to it later, often then the error I could not see becomes painfully visible.
When you ask a question, unless it is very code specific, the guys on the other end are very unlikely to have the same hardware and software, and are not intimately acquainted with your requirements - tough for them to advise in that case
You are correct, although some errors are obvious when you know the kinds of mistakes people generally make.
Plus of course people inevitably and understandably get tired of fielding those sort of questions repeatedly.
I don't mind answering the same simple questions, I know they are not simple for the person asking. I do mind when people are obviously not making any effort themselves and just want someone to do it for them. I am sure you have read many such instances and I am sure you have seen mine and other regular contributors' responses. To the people who don't make any effort I think Pink Floyd put it perfectly with:
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.
Sadly there seem to be a lot of people waiting for someone or something to show them the way.
@jubukraa,
Sorry, but you have taken what I said so far out of context it's fallen off a cliff. We are not talking about the situations you mentioned, we are talking about whether someone experimenting with a micro controller and trying to work out the basics should just type something in and see what happens or ask first. I absolutely say just try it and don't worry about the consequences. An Arduino is not going to go up in smoke because of incorrect code. Maybe some LEDs will flash in the wrong order or a cup of tea will come to a sticky end against the wall in frustration, but that's about it. When someone comes to writing automated bath filling software they will know the difference between < and > because they will have made that mistake in a more benign environment, as indeed have I.
