| Re: Catalyst Object Widget Hierarchy [message #69035] |
Wed, 16 December 2009 18:24  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Jean-Paul Davis writes:
> I know you've been asked before, but do you think there's even a
> remote chance that someone (you, Burridge, or even someone else) might
> ever write a book on how to use Catalyst?
I've been giving this a little more thought while I
made myself an omelet and cleaned up the kitchen.
Marital bliss, or at least what passes for it at
my age, is a powerful inducement, but I don't think
it is the main reason I haven't written another IDL
book. In 2000, when I finished the 2nd Edition of my
book, I was still a True Believer in IDL.
I'm not so much anymore, and I become less so with
each new version of IDL that includes new things
that I seldom, if ever, use. I happen to be a person
who LIKES the direct graphics functionality of IDL.
It's simple, it works, ordinary people can learn to
write programs, etc. But it is obvious that ITTVIS
is not in the least bit interested in maintaining
this functionality.
So, what really holds me back, is not understanding
who will be around to read (or, more importantly,
to buy) a new book. Writing is no fun. It's consuming,
you forget to bathe, you smell all the time. Your
pajamas wear out. Friends don't want to be around
you, even when things are going well. And writing
without having a passion for your subject matter
is the worst kind of torture.
I find it hard to do that when, in the end, direct
graphics are still going to suck without decent fonts,
when you are embarrassed to tell even your friends what
you have to go through to get a filled contour plot or
even a histogram, and people who understand map
projections look at you like you were nuts.
It's overcoming that increasingly high starting
hurtle that is really holding me back. :-(
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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