The future of LiveCode

[stgoldberg at aol.com]

I have used LiveCode extensively to develop my company's  educational software.  It's a great program.  I think one of the reasons why LiveCode is not more widely adopted is the lack of an adequate user manual that would attract beginners.   I ask, would you recommend the present LiveCode user manual to a student who has no background in programming and is just starting?  I wouldn't; it's too advanced and incomplete at the same time, mixes complex with simple, has no Index, says virtually nothing about the all-important property inspectors, and focuses only spottily on the key scripting words.  An adequate manual should clearly present 150 or so of the basic scripting words, which was the extent of HyperCard's vocabulary and made HyperCard easier to learn.  The beginner in LiveCode is expected to rely on the LiveCode dictionary, which, while truly excellent, contains some 2000 scripting words, far too many for the beginner to deal with.  The problem has become more pronounced with new advances in LiveCode's features.   This is why I wrote my own manual (190 pgs. plus figures) for my son. 


All other major programming languages have a variety of manuals in the bookstores.  Where are they for LiveCode?  It is insufficient to just direct the user to scattered tutorials on the Internet or to seminars; there needs to be a book that the user can easily use while learning the programming from scratch.   Many people on this forum (including myself) have a background in HyperCard or MetaCard that has made it relatively easy to migrate to Revolution/LiveCode.  What happens when the old guard dies out?  Will beginners who have no such background replace them?  Or will beginners navigate to other programming languages for lack of an adequate LiveCode manual?


I have spent 25 years teaching medical students and programming in HyperCard and its successors. I'd love to develop for mobile apps, but I have not yet subscribed to LiveCode for this, because these features are not in the present user manual, and I am unaware of adequate, organized, step-by-step, printed documentation that puts it all together and I can keep in front of me on my desk as I work. (Perhaps Colin Holgate's forthcoming book, LiveCode Mobile Development Beginner's Guide, will make a difference.)    My publishing company, Medmaster, is based on educational principles designed to teach medical students learning complex subjects for the first time.  My sense is that sales of LiveCode in the schools and elsewhere would rise significantly with better documentation.


Stephen Goldberg, President 
Medmaster Publishing Co., Inc.
Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Miami Miller School of Medicine
www.medmaster.net
stgoldberg at aol.com