[INFO] Javascript Colors list

[Ken Ray]

On 5/27/05 12:34 PM, "Vjstbenz at aol.com" <Vjstbenz at aol.com> wrote:

> jeez....
> 
> you knwo what?....i am totally NEW to rev...and am getting 50 emails per
> day....off this list...about PROBLEMS basically....
> 
> occasioanlly you get a success story....
> 
> is it normal to have such amounts of communiction over a programming
> language?...it is not HARMFULL....but it strikes me that people are DEAP in
> tryig to achieve things.....

Yes, actually I belong to several programming lists, and this is typical.
Each programmer is trying to accomplish some task, and when they run into
questions or issues they don't immediately know how to work around, they
post to the list. 
 
> it strikes me....that a lot of the emails...are looking for ANSWERS...you
> know....but when you look at the TASKS that are bieng performed...they are not
> TOO COMPLICATED....

Well, be careful... "complicated" is variable based on what you're trying to
do, and there is an axiom that says that the simpler and easier something
will be to the user of your product, the longer and more complicated the
code is that made that happen!

For example... suppose you want to make a simple guessing game, allowing the
user to enter a value from 1 to 10, which you then compare against a fixed
"answer" and when they click a button, they are told if they got it right or
not. Simple, no? Just a field and a button with a few lines of code?
Perhaps! But suppose they enter a letter in the field? Or a return? Or
suppose they enter a number greater than 100? Or a number that is not an
integer (like 5.2)? Suppose they don't enter *anything* and just click the
button? Also, will you just have a fixed answer so they can only play the
game once? Or do you need to store the "current" answer? If so, where do you
store it and how do you retrieve it?

All of these issues (and more!) will need to be taken into account to
achieve the best user experience. When you are all done, what you may have
still only have one field and one button, but several dozen lines of code...

> it seams that NOBODY knows how to achieve very much with REV....or at
> least...they are TRYING TO HARD ...TO ACHIEVE TO MUCH....

Au contraire, mon frere! :-)

Many people are achieving *great deals* with Rev; many of us put out
commercial applications, or work for others to get their applications out;
what you are seeing is just a small fraction of what people are doing - only
what they need help on at that moment.
 
> REV is a massive language...with IMMENSE POWER....but to a NEW PERSON...with
> ZERO porgramming skills...i find it quite TEDIUOS to say the least...

Undertandable... keep in mind that this is akin to spending one's life
renting a house, and now you're trying to learn the skills to *build* that
house... it will be difficult at first, even for an easy-to-learn language
like Revolution, but I can tell you that Revolution is probably one of the
easiest to learn. 
 
> a simple CLOCK FACE with a SECOND HAND ticking by....takes 100  lines of CODE
> to ACHIEVE....and DAYS of work....

Well, it may be "simple" on the outside, but not on the inside... as I
mentioned above. Also, if it is 100 lines of code and days of work, then
that may be more to the fact that you are a new to Revolution - I'm sure an
experienced Rev developer could do it in far less code and certainly a lot
less time.
 
> sure you can look on these LISTS for answers....and that is VERY GOOD...but
> how far do you want to go..with FIRING in THE DARK for answers?

Well, one thing you can do is to find out if someone else has done something
similar to what you are trying to do, and then download their stacks and
look at their code - it can help a lot on the road to learning.

Also, if you are in the United States, there are a couple of Rev user groups
that have been formed that you might be able to take advantage of.

Don't get discouraged! It will be worth it in the end...

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com