Ideas for my book.

Tom Glod tom at makeshyft.com
Tue Sep 24 13:19:36 EDT 2019


Patrick, someone wrote this on the FB Livecode Group...... just thought I'd
drop it in here.

"I am struggling to get from the basic stuff to a higher level. It seems
that every book I find either talks about the very basics or its content
goes clear over my head. Any advices?"

On Wed, Sep 18, 2019 at 2:39 PM Graham Samuel via use-livecode <
use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:

> Wise words from Jacque as always! Yes, who is the book intended for? If
> people who have programmed already, then we have to ask, have they used
> scripting languages? Are they old enough to remember Hypercard, etc? If
> not, it’s all a bit of a tabula rasa, isn’t it?
>
> To answer on my own account (just my two battered Eurocents):
>
> I have always been attracted to the concept of “natural-language-like”
> which to me of course means “English-like”. I started with Hypercard, then
> SuperCard, then LiveCode in all its manifestations. In each case what
> attracted me was in part the “stack” model, which at least is easy to
> understand, and in the particular case of LC I was (and am) exceedingly
> keen on the multi-platform ideas at the heart of LC - but perhaps even
> more, I was and am attracted by the simplicity of the “look” of the
> language, which leads to both compactness and readability. When it came to
> actual coding, for several years I used to guess what the code would be and
> then find from the dictionary that my guess was slightly, but not
> drastically, wrong! That’s because natural languages are very rich and
> provide a huge variety of ways to say the same thing. I found these
> necessary corrections easy and very rapid to do, so I was content. Any book
> would have to decide where to start from, and then lead the reader to this
> type of insight, I think, so the reader would not be afraid to use the very
> large scope of the LC language. Such a book would also have to include an
> honest appraisal of what LC isn’t so good for, as perhaps others have
> hinted.
>
> I have produced viable software products with LC, but what has happened to
> me subsequently has been rather dispiriting, in two ways:
>
> 1. LC has decided to make itself more powerful by adding only
> semi-compatible features, particularly LCB and the whole Widget idea. It is
> a struggle to get to understand and actually use all this, and a book which
> would help with that, using lots of examples and step-by-step instructions,
> would be enormously helpful.
>
> 2. Everybody and her brother are being continually bogged down by
> deployment issues - code signing, notarization, installer logic, submission
> to stores, using payment services, working with frameworks which don’t
> really recognise LC, you name it - it’s a freaking nightmare. Just getting
> the program to do its thing is now perhaps less than 50 percent of the
> effort to provide an actual deliverable. Any book that helps with that
> (step-by-step etc) would be miraculously useful, but sadly it would need to
> be updated several times per year.
>
> Obviously the above is just scratching the surface, but I hope it helps a
> little.
>
> Graham
>
> > On 18 Sep 2019, at 00:29, J. Landman Gay via use-livecode <
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> >
> > I think the first question should be: what assumptions will the book
> make? Will you assume familiarity with LC syntax and structure and plan to
> expand on various subcategories (server, pi, multi-media, etc?) Or is it
> aimed at beginners who have never programmed? Or maybe it's for experienced
> developers who know other languages but want to learn what's different in
> LC?
> >
> > That would narrow down the choices for the material you plan to present.
> Who's the audience?
> >
> > On 9/17/19 2:40 PM, Patrick Roza via use-livecode wrote:
> >> First, let me say many of you gave some great input. So let me follow
> with
> >> this.
> >> I see an interest in:
> >> Raspberry PI
> >> LiveCode server
> >> Did not see anything on widgets or plugins?
> >> So here is are some questions for the group.
> >> 1. When you were learning LiveCode what was the hardest to learn and
> why?
> >> 2. What do you think is the main advantage of LiveCode over other
> >> programming languages?
> >> 3. Do you think LiveCode is better than Python and why?
> >> I am just curious and want everybody to give me great input to develop a
> >> great book.
> >> Thanks Patrick
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> use-livecode mailing list
> >> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
> >> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
> subscription preferences:
> >> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
> > HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > use-livecode mailing list
> > use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
> > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
> subscription preferences:
> > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> use-livecode mailing list
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com
> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
> subscription preferences:
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
>


-- 
Tom Glod
Founder & Developer
MakeShyft R.D.A (www.makeshyft.com)
Office:226-706-9339
Mobile:226-706-9793



More information about the use-livecode mailing list