[Edu-sig] Top 5 All Time Novice Obstacles => #2 Helping help

[Jason Cunliffe]

> It's not artificial intelligence by any means, but it does leverage Python
> introspection to the max for people (like me) who like pointing and clicking
> and having all that information right in front of them.

Pat, thanks for the reminder about your 'PyCrust'.
I'll be sure to check it out properly. Sounds good.

Please can you tell me more about whose using it, what's popular and where you
see it going?
Also, what's the relationship between PyCrust and PythonCard?

BTW, Most of the PyCrust features you mention are in the new FlashMX which has
steadily been improving its internal ActionScript IDE.

There's an XML config file developers can edit to enable and disable the pop-up
prompts which appear for certain types of objects. The mechanism is exceedingly
crude, it just parses a suffix string: _btn, _txt, etc.. But still very
effective.
Hard-core ActionScript gurus still tend to use all their favorite external
editor, #include statements and keep the popup method 'hints' all turned off.
But that's because they type like demons, and already know 85% of it well.

One of the  nicest new features is being able to open a context sensitive
reference book. Just click the reference manual icon when the cursor is anywhere
within an ActionScript word, and the reference page opens.

For the rest of us, makes a great way to learn what's available. FlashMX
[Flash6] is an now a very interesting place => a collision course
melting/meeting pot for experienced programmers and artist.designers to learn
programming. Many for the very first time. Macromedia have been doing a pretty
good job lately at satisfying the needs of both.

In another lifetime [I wish] MM would chose Python as its script language. And
who knows, by version 10 they may open up the IDE and API to multiple languages.
ActionScript is essentially JavaScript but with special methods and objects
which control the Flash authoring  environment, and of course the .SWF runtime
players. So it has a good developer population and resources to feed off and
attract. I quite like a lot of things about it, though language purists
complain.

The new thing since FlashMX rolled out this summer are drag'n'drop gui
components. Simple things like smart buttons, videoplayers, Calendars, datagrids
and much more. Its interesting I think from an Edu-Sig OOPS perspective to see
the Flash designer and programmer culture grapple head-on with meta-programming.
Writing reusable widgets which non-programmers can 'skin' the hell out of.

That level of generalization comes at a  price of complexity, size, speed,
programmer effort and last but perhaps most essential documentation. This is
like seeing Flash go from being a very young kid selling lemonade on the street
in summer to getting a first job. There is just now an emerging market for
commercial flash 'components'. MM bundles some basic ones, and flash developer
community has been openly writing and sharing at a ferocious rate. Mostly as
learning curve resource, but part of that effort is fueling the book business.
We are just now seeing some serious OOPS titles for FlashMX ActionScript
emerging.  But now MM and a few others are promoting commercial package set with
substantial docs etc. At $99 they want to test and motivate the market I think.

I mention all this because Flash is continuing to motivate and introduce lots of
people to object-oriented programming for the fist time. And for some its their
first introduction with any kind of programming beyond perhaps some HTML.  I do
believe Flash is an excellent tool for introducing programming, and would hope
see it in schools. Some day Python I hope will a programmable graphics engine
which is as accessible and fun.

Mostly they are skilled motion graphic students, artists and designers., many of
who flunked math etc. [alternately embarrassed and proud of it,  according to
book bios and forums postings ]Visual geeks if you like.

Now they are getting into programming ActionScript and I predict that soon many
will arrive on Python's doorstep, a very different culture with different
expectations. I imagine they will be also be glad to discover PyCrust.

./Jason