Professor Goldberg, A bit daunting because of its size, but I learned HyperTalk from the truly wonderful book: "HyperTalk The Book." By Winkler and Kamins, and later, our own, Jean DeVoto, who did the original RunRev dictionary.
I am a strong believer in learning from examples--after the basic theory. Jim Hurley Emeritus Professor of Physics, Univ. of California > > Message: 22 > Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:02:17 -0400 (EDT) > From: "stgoldb...@aol.com" <stgoldb...@aol.com> > To: use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Subject: The future of LiveCode > Message-ID: <8cf348f062ed786-11ec-...@webmail-m025.sysops.aol.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > > I have used LiveCode extensively to develop my company's educational > software. It's a great program. I think one of the reasons why LiveCode is > not more widely adopted is the lack of an adequate user manual that would > attract beginners. I ask, would you recommend the present LiveCode user > manual to a student who has no background in programming and is just > starting? I wouldn't; it's too advanced and incomplete at the same time, > mixes complex with simple, has no Index, says virtually nothing about the > all-important property inspectors, and focuses only spottily on the key > scripting words. An adequate manual should clearly present 150 or so of the > basic scripting words, which was the extent of HyperCard's vocabulary and > made HyperCard easier to learn. The beginner in LiveCode is expected to rely > on the LiveCode dictionary, which, while truly excellent, contains some 2000 > scripting words, far too many for the beginner to deal with. The problem has > become more pronounced with new advances in LiveCode's features. This is > why I wrote my own manual (190 pgs. plus figures) for my son. > > > All other major programming languages have a variety of manuals in the > bookstores. Where are they for LiveCode? It is insufficient to just direct > the user to scattered tutorials on the Internet or to seminars; there needs > to be a book that the user can easily use while learning the programming from > scratch. Many people on this forum (including myself) have a background in > HyperCard or MetaCard that has made it relatively easy to migrate to > Revolution/LiveCode. What happens when the old guard dies out? Will > beginners who have no such background replace them? Or will beginners > navigate to other programming languages for lack of an adequate LiveCode > manual? > > > I have spent 25 years teaching medical students and programming in HyperCard > and its successors. I'd love to develop for mobile apps, but I have not yet > subscribed to LiveCode for this, because these features are not in the > present user manual, and I am unaware of adequate, organized, step-by-step, > printed documentation that puts it all together and I can keep in front of me > on my desk as I work. (Perhaps Colin Holgate's forthcoming book, LiveCode > Mobile Development Beginner's Guide, will make a difference.) My > publishing company, Medmaster, is based on educational principles designed to > teach medical students learning complex subjects for the first time. My > sense is that sales of LiveCode in the schools and elsewhere would rise > significantly with better documentation. > > > Stephen Goldberg, President > Medmaster Publishing Co., Inc. > Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Miami Miller School of Medicine > www.medmaster.net > stgoldb...@aol.com > _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
