Being that a lot of Whimsy involves file manipulation, running svn and git commands, and using the LDAP API, those are probably the key areas to get familiar with for the relevant programming language. Ruby has a lot of neat syntax for executing commands like a shell (similar to Perl in that regard) for example.
On Fri, 1 May 2020 at 15:35, Patricia Shanahan <p...@acm.org> wrote: > > > > On 5/1/2020 1:23 PM, Sam Ruby wrote: > > On Fri, May 1, 2020 at 3:03 PM Patricia Shanahan <p...@acm.org> wrote: > >> > >> I don't want to mislead you about my HTML skills. I understand the basic > >> concepts and syntax. On the other hand, my last professional user > >> interface experience was in the 1970's. I don't think modern user > >> interfaces focus quite as much on organizing input into 80 column chunks. > > > > Oh, we could compare notes. My first experience was with an ASR 33, > > with a 110 baud modem and paper tape. From there, I went to an > > ADM-3A, which I still have in my attic. I did punch cards and 3270s, > > but I digress. > > I've used 110 baud modems and paper tape. My first employer was NCR, so > I started with NCR Century computers. > > > > >> I am much more into algorithms and data structures than user interfaces. > > > > I would suggest that learning HTML is a good place to start. You have > > a production quality web server installed and configured. Drop the > > following file into /srv/whimsy/ww/hello.html and then visit > > http://whimsy.local/hello.html. > > > > <!DOCTYPE html> > > <html> > > <head> > > <title>First title!</title> > > </head> > > > > <body> > > <h1>First header!</h1> > > <p>Hello world!</p> > > </body> > > </html> > > > > From there, move on to learning bootstrap: https://getbootstrap.com/. > > Mock up what you eventually want to implement without any logic. Once > > you have that ready, we can talk about algorithms and data structures. > > OK, I'll try that out. > > > > > Meanwhile, I'm making good progress on my conversion of the board > > agenda tool. Early next week, I will be sharing my findings - not just > > running code, but some musings on a different approach to algorithms > > and data structures than the current whimsy implementation. You won't > > need to know Ruby or JavaScript to contribute to that discussion, but > > knowledge of JSON, and perhaps the ability to install the node.js > > implementation (which you have already done) would be helpful. > > I can think in terms of language neutral algorithms and data structures, > as well as practical implementations in different languages, so I would > like to be involved in that discussion. > > > -- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. > https://www.avg.com > -- Matt Sicker <boa...@gmail.com>
