Dependence on Programming Experts

Rodney Somerstein rodneys at io.com
Thu Jul 6 14:30:41 EDT 2006


Greg Smith wrote:
>You really haven't thoroughly read what I have written.  I have stated that
>I am not opposed to learning to program, but, rather, opposed to having to
>learn the skills with inadequate foundational learning material.

I did overlook this in your original posts. I agree that Revolution 
is lacking in the documentation department. It has a lot of 
documentation for people who are familiar with the environment, but 
not for those just getting started. Rev really needs a good tutorial 
that goes beyond just the basics that it covers now.

>I'm not asking for a tool that does everything for me.  I'm asking for a
>computer language that lets me translate my organized thoughts and
>imagination into useful bits that, when assembled together, form working
>components of a total working system.  And, it would be helpful if, along
>with such a language, came an insightful translation of the equivalent of
>words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and finally, whole stories  -
>especially if the language claims to be English-like.  If English is the
>analogy, then the analogy needs to be explained, piece by piece, concept by
>concept.  Maybe this is what does not exist.

Again, this kind of material is lacking for Revolution. To a large 
extent, it is missing for pretty much every programming language in 
existence. Revolution may actually come closer than most languages 
and environments to doing what you want. It is missing the in-depth 
tutorial material. What Rev might need is an equivalent of the "... 
For Dummies" series of books. (I hate the title, but the series has 
some good books.) It needs something that starts from the ground up, 
assuming no prior programming knowledge, that holds a new users hand 
in learning all of the basic features of the language and environment.

What currently exists in Rev can be somewhat overwhelming for the new 
user. This is easy to forget for people who have struggled through it 
already and are now using the software productively. A lot of those 
folks were aided by having used HyperCard or some other xTalk 
environment in the past. Rev, like any other programming language, 
does have some concepts that don't have direct analogs in a spoken 
language. You need a way to tell the computer what to do in detail. 
It simply can't understand what you want without that detail, the way 
people can when you speak to them. The real problem in that 
translation between human speech and programming is that the two are 
not equivalent. When you tell a person to do something, they 
understand what you mean. A computer has to be told not only what to 
do, but how to do it - step by detailed step.

I am not an expert on Rev myself. I've been hanging out here for a 
few years, playing with the software and reading messages on the 
mailing list. Since I just play around, I keep debating whether or 
not I want to keep renewing my license each year. I find the software 
and the mailing lists to be fun, creative environments and keep 
renewing so far. In another couple of months I have to make that 
decision again. I'm not sure whether I'll go with it or not this 
time. But, Rev is, even given all the work it takes to get going, 
still one of easiest, most productive programming environments you 
are likely to encounter. If Runtime Revolution keep working to 
improve the user experience, it might eventually get closer to what 
you want. I still think it is probably the closest that you will find.

-Rodney



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