Turn Off Double-Entry?

[Trevor DeVore]

On Apr 26, 2006, at 9:52 AM, David Burgun wrote:
>> Just a different perspective on this -
>>
>> I always search out 3rd party tools once I start using a  
>> development environment.  I've never developed apps in  
>> CodeWarrior, but for Director, Flash, etc., the 3rd party  
>> providers were doing really cool stuff that made my development  
>> life easier and more productive.  I think some 3rd party tools can  
>> make it easier to get started in a new dev environment if it  
>> simplifies the task the new developer is trying to accomplish.
>>
>> 3rd party developers have a great benefit in that they can focus  
>> on a smaller subset of needs than the application developer can.   
>> The 3rd party might also have more experience or expertise in a  
>> given area then the main app developer so they can offer more  
>> value in that particular area.
>
> True, I totally agree, but if you have to use the 3rd party tools  
> to overcome simple problems in the basic product then it's a  
> different story.
> In my experience 3rd party tools can also have the side effect of  
> making the original developer less vigilant in their own product.

I think this really comes down to the nature of the folks who run the  
company.  If a developer allows their apps core features to suffer  
because it can be solved by someone else then I think there is a  
problem.  I don't think that is a good attitude.  If the developer  
decides not to focus on a particular area in their app for the time  
being because it can be solved by a 3rd party, that is different.

In the case of the the script editor or property inspector, I don't  
look at Constellation as fixing the Rev script/property components, I  
look at it as a different approach.  Among other things,  
Constellation uses tabs for editing object props and scripts and  
packs more information into less space.  I really like this for  
inspecting object properties.  I still use BBEdit for my script  
editing but I prefer the Constellation approach to object props to  
the Revolution one.

> What if there were no 3rd party tools for RunRev and no one was  
> interested in developing them? The question you have to ask is how  
> much added traffic would there be on this list?

I'm not sure how that would affect traffic but I think it would  
decrease.  I believe Revolution started as a 3rd party product for  
the MetaCard engine.  I never used the MetaCard engine before  
Revolution.  I downloaded it a few times but it never made sense to  
me.  When I downloaded Rev and tried it (not realizing they were the  
same engine at the time) I was at least able to get into the engine a  
little more.  In this case, the 3rd party tool increased the user base.

If someone just can't live without tabbed script editing in their dev  
environment and Constellation offers that then the Rev user base  
increases.  The same for 3rd party tools the Altuit and the Tactile  
Media offerings.  These 3rd party tools make me more productive in  
Rev and expand the number of projects I can tackle with it.

I think 3rd party tools are a good thing in that there are developers  
who care enough about the development platform to want to improve and  
enhance it.

-- 
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Learning Systems - www.bluemangolearning.com
trevor at bluemangolearning.com