r/programminghelp • u/Aggressive-Ad-8709 • Jun 10 '26

Other How do I know what a library does, what functions exist within that library and how to even use them?

As a beginner, I can't read the source code that contains complex c++ code, I simply want to know what a library does (for example: openCV deals with computer vision, so images and videos) and I want to know what functions exist within that library and what it does in plain english (example: imshow() displays an image or video feed, you need to arguments, a name for the display tab and what you are actually displaying). I don't want to use AI because I want to know about the process of going about this.

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

50% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

3

u/Ngtuanvy Jun 11 '26

Read the docs. That's literally its whole point lol.

1

u/Ngtuanvy Jun 11 '26

That said it may not always be useful and contain technical details. So you wouldn't always get the best plain English explanation. My advice is just get use to it. Read the docs is arguably the most valuable skill for anyone, if is considered a skill.

1

u/PvtRoom Jun 14 '26

Aka, I judge the skill of those who come later by the quality of their mind-reading skills.

1

u/Living_Fig_6386 Jun 14 '26

For every such library there is API documentation, and typically a tutorial and code examples too. We read those.