keyDown, the afterword

[Richard Gaskin]

DunbarX wrote:

> Richard.
> 
> What a great response. Really. Could be edited into a entry to the lessons 
> group.
> 
> My whole point, from the beginning, had very little to do with finding a 
> solution; I had several by the time I posted, and was taught others, learning 
> some more Rev along the way.
> 
> It was always about the intricacies (and foibles, as you say) of the 
> language. That is why my first post WAS BASED on the point that in HC the method 
> worked fine, and therefore what was the difference in Rev?
> 
> Thanks again.

And thank you for the kind words and the thought-provoking conversation.

It became clear early on that you were looking for something more than 
just a solution; more than just a fish to eat today, you were looking 
for a fishing pole with which you could eat well for a lifetime, to 
understand the underlying principles of this sometimes mysterious engine.

Many are content to copy and paste a solution and move on, and with 
deadlines sometimes that's the best course to take.

But you went further, asking the hardest question of all, "Why?"

That question gave many of us a chance to step back for a moment and 
ponder how it works.  Sometimes there is a bit of nonsense in the engine 
(I still don't understand why the purgeable property of stacks is called 
by the unnecessarily alarming name "destroyStack" <g>), but Dr. Raney 
was an uncommonly rational man so with things like the issues you were 
discovering it seemed there must be a logic to it.

The contributions of Jacque, Sarah, and others here were invaluable at 
arriving at the conclusions I summarized, and I don't know about anyone 
else here but I was glad your "Why?" question prompted this exploration, 
as I feel I understand the engine better today having digested all this.

Many here have been working with the engine so long we're no longer able 
to see it through fresh eyes.  But with RevMedia being free, and with 
the new free plugin and server engine coming down the road, we can 
expect a great many fresh eyes will be looking at RevTalk in the coming 
months.

Since all of us who make our living as consultants rely on the growth of 
Rev's installed base to grow our businesses, your perspective is among 
the most valuable on this list.

Please keep those questions coming.  Never shy away from "Why?" :)


And FWIW, if you ever take an interest in wilderness navigation I 
suspect you'd be a natural with map and compass skills.  No jungle can 
trap a mind like yours.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv