Is it known..

[Somenoob]

How much the avrage human brain can memorize? is there a limit?

always when i'm reading programming documentation this question comes to mind, because i wan't to remember all functions.

[bukwirm]

The trick is to keep the documentation on hand when programming. I look up functions regularly.

[fluffington]

I memorize most of the functions (or at least remember the names, which makes searching documentation go a lot faster), and Google for the rest.

And given that I know a guy that has memorized the entire text for multiple editions of multiple 1000-page (and longer) books (i.e., the local phone book, the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an, the Lord of the Rings, and a few others that I can't recall right now), I'd say that you should be able to memorize a single API reference if you really put your mind to it.

[prizrak]

It is believed by some that the human brain stores all of the information acquired during one's lifetime, the problem is accessing that information.

[kripkenstein]

Research in psychology and neuroscience shows that there isn't a real limit to the human brain's capacity. However, most normal people do forget some things (particularly if they don't refresh their knowledge), and are limited in the speed at which they learn (various learning tricks can help here).

There is an interesting test case, "The Mnemonicist" (that's the name of the book), from about 100 years ago, of a man who remembered everything he ever saw. He was a very unique individual. Very good reading.

Anyhow, just learn as much as you can, you won't run into any limits :) . The trick is to use what you learn, so you don't forget it (also, you learn faster through use, than through plain memorizing).