[OT] "Tooling" around

Richmond richmondmathewson at gmail.com
Sun May 4 09:11:55 EDT 2014


Toolbook is, most definitely, less of a programming environment than
Livecode, but more of a LEGO kit.

Which makes me wonder . . .

It provides a vast number of premade objects,

74 types of text object,

but, an extremely limited number of buttons,

which, obviously, both take a lot of donkey work off the back of the 
end-user,
AND, cramp the imaginative style of the end-user . . .

Now, whether that is a bad or good thing is hard to say . . .

However . . with reference to Dar Scott and others,

I begin to wonder if, as Livecode gets increasingly capable of extremely 
sophisticated things,

if it is not time for a 2-tier interface:

1. An interface with a vast number of premade objects with preprogrammed 
capabilities rather like Toolbook and . . . [apologies in advance] . . . 
Powerpoint.

2. Our current interface, or even a reduced one somewhat like the 
Metacard one.

When I have taught programming to Primary kids I have found they divide 
into two groups

(about 25% to 75%)

those who want to control everything through programming objects via scripts

and

those who want the plug-n-play, programming-as-LEGO-blocks kids.

Of course, as an intellectual snob I favour the first 25%.

Notwithstanding that, if Livecode has any serious pretensions to "Power 
to the People"
it might like to consider the needs of the second group . . . especially 
not when it comes
to a bunch of school kids who are paying Richmond to keep their kids off 
the streets
in June-July, but when it comes to end-users who (c.f. my Master's 
thesis from Abertay)
are interested in delivering an end-product relating to their subject 
area without having
to go to great lengths to learn a programming language first.




More information about the use-livecode mailing list