Newbie Question

Dave dave at looktowindward.com
Thu Mar 29 11:37:13 EDT 2007


H Simon,

I can really sympathize with you! I was in the same boat around three  
years ago. The documentation is not very good, especially if you are  
used to working in C/C++ where the "white" books are available.

The thing that really confused me and got me pulling my  hair out is  
the "all-in-one" concept behind RunRev, by that I mean there is no  
"initial" state in which you can get back to square one! By this I  
mean that if you (or a bug) sets the location of an Object way off  
the screen then it will stay there until you bring it back again. In  
C/C++ you start with a clean slate every time!

I've done a lot of moaning and complaining about the state of the  
documentation and silly bugs that have not been fixed for ages, but  
in the end RunRev really is the best thing on the market for RAD,  
especially when coupled with C/C++ external commands.

One of the main problems is when starting off is that you are faced  
with a *huge* system with lots of different ways of doing things and  
lots of sample stacks, all doing similar things using different  
techniques. It's really hard to sort out something that does the job  
for you and is extensible. Plenty of times I've invested time and  
effort in something that later I've found won't work 100% because  
something else "fights" it. The documentation could definitely be  
better in this respect.

Over the three years I've been using it, I have developed my own  
Framework and Message/Event Manager that help loads and make it a  
much more pleasant experience. I'd be happy to provide more  
information if you like. So, I think you are doing the right thing by  
sticking with it, it will take a while but one day you'll think -  
Wow! That's how to do it!

All the Best
Dave

On 29 Mar 2007, at 12:27, Simon HARPER wrote:

> Hi there, and I do agree that, as a coder of 15 years, I would  
> normally go on gut instinct. However, being used to c/c++, Java and  
> Perl the Revolution Transcript syntax and expressions are not  
> 'natural' for me, as I'm trained to think in the more mathematical  
> syntax of these grammars and not the more discursive grammar of  
> Transcript. I'm sure I'll get it with persistence but I just think  
> that coders moving over could really do with good documentation as  
> it just is not intuitive for a people with experience of these  
> other 'conventional' languages, IMO.
>
> However, having said that I'm actually really enjoying learning it  
> and am persisting because I can see long term benefits of using  
> Revolution as a RAD tool. Having said this I've another question  
> which I'll send as a separate email...
>
> Cheers
> Si.
>
> ====
> Simon Harper
> 2.44 Kilburn Building
> University of Manchester (UK)
>
> Pri: simon.harper at manchester.ac.uk
> Alt: sharper at cs.man.ac.uk
>
>
> On 29 Mar 2007, at 12:15, Richmond Mathewson wrote:
>
>> I beleive one of the main reasons RR does not spend a
>> lot of time and resources on updating documentation is
>> because a very large number of programmers don't read
>> the documentation in anything but a cursory manner -
>> relying on their intuition, their past experience and
>> their willingness ot "get their feet wet" instead.
>>
>> When I was learning PASCAL (Durham, 1984) the standard
>> joke going around the computer labs was that the last
>> person to write a computer programming manual had had
>> a mausoleum constructed out of unsold copies.
>>
>> I have yet to read a really user-friendly programming
>> manual as most computer-programmers who write manuals
>> do not seem to spend a lot of time on audience
>> research or the finer points of reader-response
>> theory.
>>
>> The other reason why RR may not take their
>> documentation too seriously is that, in my experience,
>> the best manual I am aware of for Runtime Revolution
>> is this Use-List - it is dynamic, adaptive and
>> generally very friendly.
>>
>> I am always happy, either on or off-list, to answer
>> the most basic Newbie questions:
>>
>> geradamas at yahoo dot com
>>
>> richmond at mail dot maclaunch dot com
>>
>> There are many contributors to this list who can
>> answer both those basic ones, and more tricky ones, in
>> a way far better than I can.
>>
>> sincerely, Richmond Mathewson
>>
>> ____________________________________________________________
>>
>> A Thorn in the flesh is better than a failed Systems Development  
>> Life Cycle.
>> ____________________________________________________________
>>
>>
>> 		
>> ___________________________________________________________
>> Inbox full of unwanted email? Get leading protection and 1GB  
>> storage with All New Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/ 
>> nowyoucan.html
>> _______________________________________________
>> use-revolution mailing list
>> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
>> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your  
>> subscription preferences:
>> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
>
> _______________________________________________
> use-revolution mailing list
> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your  
> subscription preferences:
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution




More information about the use-livecode mailing list