I have the functional specifications document of a new software that I am trying to master. This software application is complex .At present I am just scanning through the documents.
Is there any better way to make use of these functional specs to understand and feel comfortable with the thousands of options offered by this application.
Thanks for your time
You haven't mentioned the particular niche for this application, but rather than start with the functional spec, perhaps it might be a good use of time to learn more about the business processes handled by the application. I find that once I have a better understanding of the business process or user stories, the functional specs make more sense.
Regarding learning, it's very important that you understand yourself before you try to use existing materials to learn things. Different people learn in different ways. Some people will learn better reading, and some will learn better being read to out loud, even if the content is exactly the same. Some people will learn better with diagrams and charts, and some will learn better actively using the thing they're trying to learn. Some people learn better by looking at the big picture and then working out the details, and some people learn better by understanding individual parts and then combining them together to make the whole.
You should think about things that you've learned in the past, and how you learned them. Chances are whichever things you know the best are things you learned in your preferred way.
Learning isn't something that one can just say "such and such is the best way to learn", because it's different for everyone!
So tell me, how would you prefer to learn about the application? Figure that out, and figure out a way to make that happen to the best of your ability.