Will people ever learn that it is best to invest some time up-front actually doing some design, rather than just dive straight into coding with no real understanding of what's required?!

You are totally right, Andy!

Every designer must read everything about the 'part' he can get into his hands. Not only the datasheet, but also application notes, eratas, etc. And this BEFORE starting to design.

I want to focuse, that even datasheets tend to minimalize problems with their product. It's the intention of manufacturer to demonstrate the customer, that their product is so simple to handle, that even a child can do that. Problems are often not documented in datasheet in every detail, or they are hidden a bit...
It's just our experience which helps us to enlighten those facts, which are hidden 'between the lines'. But a beginner is rather helpless. Then, additionally reading those many application notes available can show him where the difficulties are, or at least, that there do exist some!
So, not only reading the datasheet is essential, but also further going literature!!

Today, living in 'web-age', there is also another powerful resource, which is nearly unused by the many many newbies posting here, namely the experience of other users, which post their individual knowledge and experience in the web, perhaps on their own website, or in certain fora. This information is AVAILABLE, just by using a search machine, like 'google'. But is this used? NO!

So many times we discussed about these LCD topics here. And I get the strong feeling, that a big number of posters never read the according datasheet! May be, they like the 'surprise'...

Now some people will say: 'I did read the datasheet, but there was no relevant information.' Then, I answer: 'Read other datasheets of LCDs, containing same controller. May be one datasheet does not provide helpful information, but if you have read some of them, you get a strong idea, of what is going on...'

The only way for a person doing in electronics to 'survive' in this rapidly changing world is to keep up-to-date! Get as much information as possible and increase your knowledge and experience. The motto is: READ, READ, READ, READ, ...

There's another point, which stresses me: Many newbie posters do not 'keep in touch' with their thread. They post a more or less intelligent question (mostly demonstrating that they have never read the datasheet!), and then disappear! They DO NOT tell us, what the actual problem was, whether they solved it and how they solved it. If now another newbie tries to make a search in this forum to the same subject, there's a high probability of mostly finding these postings, which do not contain any relevant information... This will finally erode the benefit of this forum! So, it must be of our all interest, that all people here read the datasheet and further going literature, BEFORE starting to design. And in any case, BEFORE POSTING HERE...

Regards,
Kai