I get the mindset and am very much a read-the-code person as well but my go-to example for this kind of thinking is that reading the code in lieu of a written summary/guide, etc is like trying to understand a book where the chapters and paragraphs are mixed around. It's possible and the ability to do so worthy of pride but it's clear that a succinct summary in one place would be far easier and time-efficient.
Not to say that heavy documentation like this is perfect of course. It just seems like the complexity of the read-the-code solution is sometimes glossed over.
Right, that’s the thing isn’t it—sometimes an abundance of documentation is actually not a good thing. matplotlib is a good example, its documentation fails to convey the common arguments and to what degree they are universal or not; reading the code is really the easier way in the end.
Not to say that heavy documentation like this is perfect of course. It just seems like the complexity of the read-the-code solution is sometimes glossed over.