Examples are the best documentation

You need both and there are no ways around that.

Examples let you grasp immediately how to use the library and provide you good starting point for your integration.

Detailed explanation of all params and configurations allows you to solve more complex problems and understand the full capabilities of the tool.

I am miserable when any of the two kind of documentation is missing.

The only exceptions are very simple libraries, where the example tells you already everything there is to know.

Agreed, examples and reference docs.

When feasible, I'd add repl environments. The ability to quickly modify and test the example can make up for a lot of the shortcomings documentation might have.

I'm honestly surprised there are people who think that only examples are fine. And I'm equally surprised there are people who think only reference docs are fine. It's so infuriating coming across a project that only has one kind and not the other.