Another Doc Thought

[Dan Shafer]

On Jul 25, 2005, at 11:47 PM, Richard Gaskin wrote:

> But if we could teach the art of dissection, the people could learn  
> from existing code without need as much explanation.
>
> Am I dreaming?
>
> I learned so much dissecting HyperCard and SuperCard examples,  
> almost as much as the dictionaries.  Never really read much of  
> anything else from either of those products but the dictionary and  
> sample code.  Maybe that's helpful, or maybe I'm just a freak.
>
I don't think you're a freak. But I think: (a) probably not many  
people learn this way, at least in the early going; and (b) this is a  
difficult skill to teach, perhaps more difficult than programming.
>
>
>> (BTW, there's another issue for me that probably doesn't concern   
>> anyone else. When people on the list contribute free  
>> documentation- like things -- tutorial stacks, how-tos, etc. -- I  
>> want at one and  the same time to applaud loudly and groan  
>> quietly. Because, you see,  if someone ELSE is writing something  
>> on the same topic and perhaps  putting in a lot of effort and time  
>> and energy with the hope of  selling the product and someone else  
>> comes along and offers something  -- even if not quite as good or  
>> complete -- for free, it crushes the  spirit if not the market. A  
>> clearing-house for volunteer effort would  help avoid such things  
>> but that begs the question of who would set up  and manage such a  
>> thing.
>>
>
> I can't imagine there are that many potentially in conflict.  Maybe  
> the RevDocs group could be used for that?
>
It doesn't take very many. One or two "false starts" like that can  
discourage someone with less masochistic tendencies than I have. :-D




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dan Shafer, Revolution Consultant and Author
http://www.shafermedia.com
Get my book, "Revolution: Software at the Speed of Thought"
 From http://www.revolutionpros.com, Click "My Stuff"