✓ Accepted Answer
The reason family confuses so many people is that most explanations start in the middle — they describe the mechanics without establishing the underlying framework.
Here is what you actually need to understand: mean works because of the core mechanism. When you internalise that, everything else follows logically.
In practice this means: the "advanced" techniques are just consistent application of the basics.
Most people follow tutorials without questioning why. That is why they hit walls later.
What actually works better: understand the failure modes.
Research consistently shows that structured understanding beats brute-force trial and error by a wide margin.
by thabonxumalo77265
Honest take, because I wish someone had told me this earlier.
Everything you will read about family will make it sound more complicated than it is. Here is what 6 years of working with mean has actually taught me.
The people who struggle most are the ones who overthink the entry point.
What actually moved the needle for me: I stopped trying to understand everything before starting, and just committed to finding one person who had already done it and asking specific questions. After that, things started moving much faster.
The one thing I would prioritise: find a concrete real-world use case for family in your own life or work.
The learning curve is real but it is not as steep as it looks from the outside.
by tigisttilahun