Dependence on Programming Experts

[Mark Smith]

There has been discussion here of this in the past. Some for it, some  
against. The fact is that xTalks (as far as I know) have never used  
'=' as an assignment operator, except in the one case where  
Revolution does so, when declaring a variable :

local x = 5

You could argue that since so many languages use '=' as an assignment  
operator then Revolution should too. But I like it the way it is,  
because 1) I'm used to it, and 2) it's more like what I've always  
understood '=' to mean in maths ie. thing A is equal to thing B,  
which is a statement that is either true or false.

So in Revolution, 'x = 5' is an expression that evaluates to true if  
the value held in variable x happens to be 5, and I'd imagine that  
changing this might cause all sorts of trouble. Maybe it would be  
practical to implement a pascal-type '==' assignment operator, but I  
don't know enough about the way scripts are compiled to know if that  
could happen.


best,

Mark

On 11 Jul 2006, at 22:54, Josh Mellicker wrote:

> I have found Rev extremely intuitive except for one thing:
>
> I wish it would parse
>
> x = 5
>
> (if not following an IF)
>
> the same as
>
> put 5 into x
>
>
> That's the one thing I would change.
>
> :-)
>
>
> On Jul 11, 2006, at 11:23 AM, Richmond Mathewson wrote:
>
>> Bob Sneidar wrote:
>>
>> "I was just telling someone the other day, the main draw of computer
>> programming is that it offers a "perfect world" where if you do
>> everything right, you get out of it exactly what you expect, unlike
>> the real world, where you can do everything right and have everything
>> go oh so wrong.
>>
>> Computer programming is like playing with a virtual constructor kit.
>> We love it because building things (even virtual things) is a whole
>> lot of fun! Building things which other people find useful is even
>> more fun! Which goes to another theory I have, and that is that we
>> never stop being children. We just learn to handle responsibility
>> better."
>>
>> And I am inclined to agree. However the level of abstract and  
>> logical thinking
>> required for really good computer programming requires a certain  
>> amount of
>> psychological maturity.
>>
>> Now - back to my maladjusted kid!
>>
>> I don't see the world of computer programming as a "psychological  
>> save-haven"
>> away from the buffettings of everyday life. After all, a brilliant  
>> computer
>> programmer who cannot pitch her/his idea to the customer/end-user  
>> is still
>> nothing more than a socially disfunctional zero; similarly, a  
>> brilliant computer
>> programmer who cannot listen and understand a customer/end-user's  
>> needs
>>  and implement them in a way that the end-user can work with is  
>> nothing more
>> than the geeky person in the psychological anorak.
>>
>> What I do see, is that after 2 weeks, my maladjusted kid has, by  
>> managing to
>> produce something that works (side-scrolling 2D game at the  
>> moment), gained
>> a leevl of confidence that he managed to open his mouth to  
>> somebody other
>> than "Mummy" and "Teacher" for possibly the first time in 10 years.
>>
>> I would be extremely worried if I thought that any kid,  
>> maladjusted or not,
>> who spent some time under my tutelage would end up as a mono-maniac
>> who had to have a mouse "surgically implanted into his hand" or could
>> only have conversations of the sort:
>>
>> "Hi, On MouseUp, If What Then? End If"
>>
>> sincerely, Richmond Mathewson
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________
>>
>> "Philosophical problems are confusions arising owing to the  
>> fluidity of meanings users attach to words and phrases."
>>                                        Mathewson, 2006
>> ____________________________________________________________
>>
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