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 _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [email protected] Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
