How to read Linux man pages?

Every time I find some command confusing, I'd reach out for man pages. Sometimes I get what I want with it, but mostly it confused me even more.

I understand that a man page is divided into parts: NAME, SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION, OPTIONS, EXPRESSIONS, EXAMPLES, etc. But I have no clue what all the options mean. Like, how many parameters every option should have, their dependencies etc.

Can someone please clarify it for me?

Are there any documents for this?

Solution

All man pages follow a common layout that is optimized for presentation on a simple ASCII text display, possibly without any form of highlighting or font control. Sections present may include:

NAME

The name of the command or function, followed by a one-line description of what it does.

SYNOPSIS

In the case of a command, a formal description of how to run it and what command line options it takes. For program functions, a list of the parameters the function takes and which header file contains its definition.

DESCRIPTION

A textual description of the functioning of the command or function.

EXAMPLES

Some examples of common usage.

SEE ALSO

A list of related commands or functions. Other sections may be present, but these are not well standardized across man pages. Common examples include: OPTIONS, EXIT STATUS, ENVIRONMENT, BUGS, FILES, AUTHOR, REPORTING BUGS, HISTORY and COPYRIGHT.