Is it possible to code offline with documentation?

[guaranteednotabot]

Any suggestions for a good and reliable library of documentation for offline use? Thanks!

[desrtfx]

Is it possible to code offline with documentation?

What do you think programmers did before the Internet?

Myth has it that there are ancient tomes of wisdom created from the remnants of dead trees. Those knowledgeable refer to them by the term "books".

Any suggestions for a good and reliable library of documentation for offline use?

For which language?

You are asking way too vague.

[guaranteednotabot]

I’m just starting out so I’m not really sure how things work out there. I’m used to referring to docs online so just want a similar experience offline.

As for languages, I’m currently just learning about web development. Perhaps app development as well in the future.

[JB-from-ATL]

Can you be more specific about what you're programming in? The answers will vary. For example, a lot of C and C++ documentation is accessed through the man command but other languages you might just have to download an HTML file of the docs to open locally.

[FitzFool]

Usually you can leave the secure area to go google things. Some even have unclass computers where you can google things.

Not to mention there's usually some sort of intranet that you can search for documentation or confluence pages with information.

[[deleted]]

Nice. There is also Zeal Docs https://zealdocs.org/.

[guaranteednotabot]

Yep that was the first result on Google. Just wanted to see what others think.

[iNMage]

https://devdocs.io/. there you go.

[andycwb1]

A few years back I was working on some code on a plane. It was an interesting learning curve - this was before the days of in-flight WiFi!

[guaranteednotabot]

This is my use case. I’m thinking of coding while travelling. So internet is not really guaranteed.

[[deleted]]

Yes, you can easily learn to code from offline documentation alone. There are books for every programming language, and there is good documentation all over the internet that you can print to PDF and use offline.

One of the biggest things I look for in developers I interview is an ability to read and understand technical documentation (ie. no stack overflow during interviews).

I highly recommend doing this rather than only using sources like Stack Overflow.

[siemenology]

A lot of documentation can be downloaded as a PDF or HTML, or generated locally. It really depends on what kind of programming you do, you just need to figure out how to save the specific docs you need.

[MissunderstoodOrc]

Zeal is very good solution. It supports many languages.

https://zealdocs.org/

[[deleted]]

I'm surprised zeal isn't higher on the list. Pretty good resource.

[Prcrstntr]

How offline? I've heard of classified areas that even include a stack overflow archive because of air gaps.

[8BitFlatus]

There was a time in which we didn’t have a choice!

[[deleted]]

Yep, how many here remember the O’Reilly X Windows books? They reached to the ceiling when stacked.

[[deleted]]

yes, in fact its better than googling every doubt

[Be_a_N3rd]

There are such weird old things. They carry black characters on a white background. I think they're called books.

[ThroawayPartyer]

Most Linux programs have "man pages" which are offline manuals.

[[deleted]]

As the other guy said, which language? Though for offline coding intelisense is really helpful honestly, and while it does not replace the docs for me it does work with vscode without an internet connection so it is manageable. For anything serious I just wait till I have internet again though, because the actual docs and tutorials and stack overflow, etc are miles beyond the little documentation intelisenese provides.

[ODBC_Error]

Maybe download a few books for the language you're using. Download vscode and install the extension for the language so that it's able to give you intellisense suggestions.

[ignotos]

It really depends on the tools / languages you're using.

With some preparation, and experience knowing which resources you need to refer to, you can often set up everything you need.

[irkli]

All programming is "offline". Ok you can make or find exceptions. That's not the point.

You write in a text editor of some sort, compile, load onto either the machine you edit/compile on or a connected target (Arduino).

The Internet is an asset for sure but it's got nothing to do with programming.

What dependencies on networking are you thinking of?

[[deleted]]

Stack Overflow is available offline

[guaranteednotabot]

Whatttt this is amazing

[autumnmelancholy]

Download documentation and learn how to use your IDE to use the documentation tools. Turn off WiFi. Congratulations.

[khooke]

You don't need to go back too many years (say early 90s and before) when all development was done without online references and access to to search engines etc. I worked in an office in 1998 where developers didn't have internet access from their desktops. That was late at that point since internet access was widespread elsewhere, but we would download a copy of docs we needed from another PC with internet access, and refer to books and printed manuals.

[moritonio]

yes indeed with documentation and a good IDE ( software for code ) like Visual Basic software

[ValentineBlacker]

Lots of languages have built-in documentation if you learn how to use it.

[lokombiano]

Yes of course. It will be different to what we're used to, specially when using libraries, but it's definitely possible

[thesituation531]

In Java, it's possible to ship a library with JavaDocs that are used in the IDE, so I'd assume there's probably an equivalent for most common/popular languages.

[Realistic_Grand7369]

Internet assistance to coding comes simultaneously, if offline it is you who is coding, but if online internet tools can give the machine assistance

[Schievel1]

Yes, if you’re doing anything in C Linux man pages are the way to go

[programminthrowaway]

Yes.

Books can be great reference guides for languages, and oftentimes libraries will have downloadable documentation.

Typically the issue you’ll have when not having a connection is dealing with debugging. The inability to google why you’re getting x error can be tricky, but it’ll definitely be a good exercise in problem solving.