A nice read, but I think there is a contradiction here that needs to be cleared up:
1) On one hand, the author says that humans learn from examples, not core concepts.
2) On the other hand, the author emphasises the importance of reducing "conceptual overload", by reducing the number of concepts while maintaining their expressiveness.
So it is not that core concepts are not important for learning. Rather, it is essential to have a set of well-defined and well-documented core concepts which cover what the system can do. But of course, you also need plenty of insightful examples, and of course a "Getting Started" guide should start with examples, not core concepts. But if the core concepts are simple and few enough to fit into a "Getting Started", that's a win.
I didn't find it contradictory. The first one is about how to start learning about something more easily and the second one about how to organize it all so that it's easier to use and understand as a whole. That may also help with getting started too.
I personally agree that examples are a very efficient way to get started and you can learn the details incrementally in a top-down fashion. Some text books during my studies took the bottom-up approach (even explicitly mentioned it) and I never quite liked it.
If the core concepts are simple and not too many, then it probably doesn't matter that much. The point is to get started easily.
again, not contradictory. have good core concepts, combine with good entry corridors. good concept with entry blocked by obtusity and esoterics is not a product ready for consumption.
i didn’t see the authors suggest that good concepts are unimportant.
Sure, it isn't really the whole product, but I interpreted it as an exaggeration, meaning that easy onboarding would be very essential part of the product and which is the first thing users experience.
1) On one hand, the author says that humans learn from examples, not core concepts.
2) On the other hand, the author emphasises the importance of reducing "conceptual overload", by reducing the number of concepts while maintaining their expressiveness.
So it is not that core concepts are not important for learning. Rather, it is essential to have a set of well-defined and well-documented core concepts which cover what the system can do. But of course, you also need plenty of insightful examples, and of course a "Getting Started" guide should start with examples, not core concepts. But if the core concepts are simple and few enough to fit into a "Getting Started", that's a win.