Yep, I was learning C++ and could not understand an example in one of Stroustrup's books, so I posted a query asking for help, giving my thoughts and confusion.
I was roundly berated for not reading carefully enough, until one lonely soul piped up and said that actually there was a typo in the book's example code.
I'm only a hobby programmer and the experience wasn't encouraging.
> I'm only a hobby programmer and the experience wasn't encouraging.
I have come across elitist communities like on SO, also regarding C++. I was downvoted and told to intentionally be spreading misinformation by using the word 'struct', because as you should know, in C++ there are only classes...
I haven't encountered that kind of vitriol when I asked beginner questions about how loops work, on 4chan out of all places.
But there were also times where I spent hours with people chatting on IRC while learning, where people were forgiving and encouraging.
In both places however, it seemed to be unfathomable for people that someone was trying to learn to program, not because they had to because of school or uni.
I’ve had people complain that, and I kid you not, my answer was obviously answered by combining the content of two specific pages in different reference books. Which, honest to God, made me wonder what _was_ a valid question.
I was roundly berated for not reading carefully enough, until one lonely soul piped up and said that actually there was a typo in the book's example code.
I'm only a hobby programmer and the experience wasn't encouraging.