Video Tutorial Vs Written Tutorial for Programmers

Most of the programmers are busy people working on some kind of projects. Having a video tutorial can provide some quality time with learning but on the other hand reading tutorials can be fast all we do is skim the main points of the post and move on.

while I was discussing the topic with fellow programmer friends on twitter, USENET and online some interesting unanimous answers came out. So I thought why not share it with blog subscribers as well.

Below are the responses I got from my friends, and you are more then welcome to comment your thoughts on it.


Stefan Ram

Programmers enjoy on-topic posts, that is, posts
regarding particular features of the programming
language Java in comp.lang.java.programmer.



Donkey Hottie

Some programmmers enjoy sausage, others more like sex. Old and tired dogs
may enjoy beer on their free time.


Martin Gregorie

Straight answer: I much prefer written material because:

1)the bandwidth of a talking head video or a powerpoint-type presentation
is *much* lower than that of reading a text version of a tutorial at my
own speed. As a result I'm wasting time watching a video when I could be
reading it instead.

2)well laid-out written text is much easier to use as reference material.


Wojtek

Sitting at my desk listening to a droning voice puts me to sleep.

Most programming video tutorials are done by programmers. And we tend
not to be very exciting (ok, ok, "ducks").

You hear a bored voice and see a mouse cursor moving around:
"And then you click here and this happenes, then you click there and
that happens, and you see this result."

Not sure how to liven this up, maybe a dance team in skimpy clothing
illustrating actions? Some lithe young thing running around the screen
mimicing a cursor?
But please NO background music.


Dirk Bruere

Written.
Better yet, a really good book on the topic with web based examples for
reference


Arne Vajhøj

Written.
Video has a "Learn to sell snow on the north pole and
sand in Sahara in 7 days" aura.


Daniel Pitts

A video tutorial is all but useless for non-novice programmers. The
written word is far more efficient at imparting information. The most
valuable learning tool a programmer can use is a complete example that
can be played with, altered, and explained.


Arved Sandstrom

It sounds like a serious question, so I'll answer it seriously. I
personally cannot stand video tutorials, not with respect to software
development. If I want to get a better idea how to tie a fishing fly, or
do a tuneup on an older style car, I can appreciate a video. But text
with images is much more efficient at delivering information about
software development than a video could ever be.

I must confess: the whole concept of programming videos strikes me as so
wrong that I've never watched one, and I doubt I ever will. :-)

Please do share your thought about the topic through comments