Re: FLASH: A teacher wonders why ActionScript tutorials "bite"

[Paul Kilgour]

I'd just like to add my 5 Kroner (roughly 2 cents!) to this 

argument/discussion.


There are some very good points being made here, and convincing arguments

for both sides. (Fence sitting is my hobby, BTW).


Those of you - and I suspect that this may be a large majority - who are

aged between, say, 16 and 30 were brought up from a young age with

computers. You used them at school, and then at college. You learnt computer

languages and how to programme. You have no concept or experience of life

without computers. For you, writing action scripts is as easy as it is for a

duck to take to water. You've probably learnt HTML at a young age (remember,

the older you are, the more difficult to learn, in almost everything),

you've been building web sites since there was only black type on a grey

background. You've evolved into what you are now. This is not difficult for

you to do or understand.


This, I admire and envy enormously.


Some people, and I am one of them, were already 15/16 years old when the

first battery powered calculators came onto the market. I remember we had to

buy them in kit form and put them together ourselves. And we weren't allowed

to use them in school exams!


I see you as long time PC users. This I also see as an advantage, having to

have gone through all that DOS cr*p.


Let me use myself as an example here.


I started to use a Mac when I was 32 - in 1990. Macs were always easy to use

then. The interface was friendly and welcoming. As designers, we learnt how

to use Quark Xpress, Freehand, then later, Photoshop. All that was difficult

enough, and I still find it difficult to keep up everytime there's a new

upgrade (Quark users don't need to worry too much about this!!).We spent our

time designing brochures, ads and logo's, as we always had, except now we

were doing it on computers instead of a drawing board.


When the internet became more accessible and cheaper to use clients started

asking about having a web site. I mean, who else would they ask?


And there is the problem. Some of us are not 'computer buffs', we use them

because we have to. When I left school, some of my friends went to college

to do computer programming because they wanted to be programmers. Some of us

went to do Graphic Design because we wanted to be designers. Now WE have to

be both. WE are having to learn from scratch, the things that some people

just take for granted, and have been brought up with.


I often post requests on newsgroups for how to do something, and I have to

say that at least 60% of the time I don't understand the answer! This is my

problem, but I just wish it wasn't.


I congatulate Tom Green on his original message - I'm sure there must be a

lot of other people out there just as mystified as us. I'd also like to take

this opportunity to critisise Macromedia - not on the product, which is

excellent - but the lack of information it as a company provides to people

like us.


The manuals that come with the software are, quite frankly, rubbish. For

instance, in the manual for Flash 3 there was one whole page on FS Commands.


Anyway, I've strayed off the point a little. The argument was that huge

amounts of us do not have the time or inclination to learn programming. We

never wanted to in the first place but have been pushed into it by a

changing market. People like Macromedia should be providing more basic

information to make it easier, especially since some people have been using

there products since before web design became popular.


That was my 2 cents anyway (more like 4 cents)


Thanks to everyone for a great and informative group. Long may it last, as I

need all the help I can get!!


Kind regards,


Paul.


> I see where you are, Tom, but let me add a comment from a geek, if I may?

> If I had the time and inclination (and I might have the inclination, but

> probably not the time, nor the know-how of writing tutorials) I don't think

> I

> would know where to start.  As a "geek" so to speak (and a poetic one at

> that) I have been studying "variables" and "While Loops" and Cursors and

> Case and If..then..else for 12 years.  It would be difficult to know where

> to start in a tutorial.  Do you start from "this is what a variable is" or

> do you assume they know some programming terminoligy?  How much do you

> assume?  Nothing?  Then each and every tutorial would be a book and a half?

> Action Script is not really a language, even.  But it makes some use of some

> "basic" programming theory and we are learning daily how to adapt what it

> DOES do into what we NEED it to do.  And there are "basic programming"

> tutorials all over the place.

>

> I've never been a teacher, and it very easy for me to get into the rut of

> assuming my listeners know what I'm talking about, when it is so much a part

> of my life that I can't imagine someone NOT knowing.  Teaching is easier for

> you, because that's what you do, and I'm sure you do it very well!!!

> Tutorials written for geeks by geeks helps us geeks and are appreciated very

> much (I don't know anybody who gets paid for writing them, maybe some do)

> but I think we're all still learning, yes?

>

> Meanwhile, while I was trying really hard to compose this, Eric has sent out

> a great response!  Thank you, Eric!

>

> ~~~~Cheri Harder~~~~~

>

charderawsolution [dot] com

> Advantage Web Solution

> "Developing your internet storefront"

> www.awsolution.com

> ----- Original Message -----

>

From: "Tom Green" <tgreen17home [dot] com>

>

To: "Flash" <flasherchinwag [dot] com>

> Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2000 9:41 PM

> Subject: FLASH: A teacher wonders why ActionScript tutorials "bite"

>

>

>> I had lunch today with a fellow member of this list and it quickly

>> degenerated into a whining session regarding ActionScrpt tutorials.

>>

>> The bottom line was : Why are actionscript tutorials are generally

>> written for geeks by geeks?

>

> ...followed by some more excellent comments!

>

>

>

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 December 7 - 9, San Jose Convention Center, California


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