I do not think so.
The more clear and clean the manuals are, the better 'usable' the
computer language will be understoud (?).
In clear, if the language follows what you said and the manuals are
bad, dark, obtuse, full of errors and so on, who will use it ?
The difference will be made on the documentation !
I agree that documentation of the language is very important. My point
is that when there are many syntactical ways of accomplishing the exact
same thing, it becomes very hard share code in larger groups. A simple
examples from C++ where arrays are pointers, pointers may have
arithmatic on them, etc. C++ is very powerful, but has too many valid
syntaxes to accomplish the same exact machine code. And don't even get
me started on preprocessors like "#define BEGIN {" #define END }"
type of crap. All this does is allow personal style to make the code
look almost like a different languate. This is may work for a single
person, but falls apart for a group project.
int array[10];
is the same as
int *array = new int[10];
and
array[x] = x;
or
*(array + 10) = x;
and an integer array is indistinguishable from a pointer to an array.
The problem is... AppleScript can be programmed using "Script Editor",
"Terminal", "XCode". Isn't it enought ? (in proper context and IDE)
The real trouble with AppleScript is that software provider (Apple for
AppleWorks for example) does not gives proper documentation...
Do you know how to works with AppleScript and XML ?
Do you know how to create - using AppleScript - a new document in
TextEdit ?
Do you know, still using AppleScript, how to select (highlight) some
characters (or words or paragraphs) in TextEdit ?
This is my point about proper context and IDE. The context for me is
an environment providing "objects" for XML, etc. without having to
invoke other applications, as these application may all have their own
rules, naming convention, etc.
To be completely honest, (I was an Apple Employee when AppleScript was
born so many years ago) I use AppleScript to make some small, simple
things (some of them I do not even know how I could do using
REALbasic), and sometimes I need - for some other small and simple
things - to use REALbasic (because I do not know how I can do it using
AppleScript).
Agreed, the documentation for AppleScript is abysmal.
This brings up a good point, since I am still on 10.3.x, I haven't used
Automator. Could Automator be the beginning of a simple children's
programming tool if someone provided a toolkit application for it? At
least to teach problem solving, etc.
Thank you,
Alex Lindsay
On Sep 30, 2005, at 10:47 AM, Emile Schwarz wrote:
realbasic-nug-request at lists dot realsoftware dot com wrote:
Subject: Re: "You're not going to learn how to program in BASIC any
more"
From: Alex Lindsay <alindsay at mac dot com>
Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:16:13 -0500
I have always thought that the more flexible and forgiving the
syntax, the better the language is for learning. I also believe that
flexible syntax is often a bane as the complexity of a project
increases, especially when more than one developer works on the
project.
I do not think so.
The more clear and clean the manuals are, the better 'usable' the
computer language will be understoud (?).
In clear, if the language follows what you said and the manuals are
bad, dark, obtuse, full of errors and so on, who will use it ?
The difference will be made on the documentation !
I have also thought that one of the more intuitive languages out
there is AppleScript. Almost anyone reading AppleScript for the
first time can understand it. Unfortunate, AppleScript is used
mostly for automating other applications, and how those applications
respond often muddies the waters!
I think that AppleScript would make a great teaching language if the
proper context and IDE were provided.
The problem is... AppleScript can be programmed using "Script Editor",
"Terminal", "XCode". Isn't it enought ? (in proper context and IDE)
The real trouble with AppleScript is that software provider (Apple for
AppleWorks for example) does not gives proper documentation...
Do you know how to works with AppleScript and XML ?
Do you know how to create - using AppleScript - a new document in
TextEdit ?
Do you know, still using AppleScript, how to select (highlight) some
characters (or words or paragraphs) in TextEdit ?
To be completely honest, (I was an Apple Employee when AppleScript was
born so many years ago) I use AppleScript to make some small, simple
things (some of them I do not even know how I could do using
REALbasic), and sometimes I need - for some other small and simple
things - to use REALbasic (because I do not know how I can do it using
AppleScript).
Syntax ?
Syntax checker under AppleScript, the Compiler under REALbasic... Word
spelling ? Same answer as syntax...
Some problems have a simple answer. But if you get a cryptic error
message, you will pull your hair with both hands and scrap everything
before getting an answer...
Back to basics: let the children understand what (s)he can do with a
computer and (s)he want to program right now !
Cheers,
Emile
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