| Re: The Secret Widget Manual and IDL V5 [message #9171 is a reply to message #9151] |
Tue, 10 June 1997 00:00   |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Hi Folks,
Charles Martin and Bill Sawchuck had a lot of nice things
to say about some manuals I wrote and classes I taught.
Thanks to both of them.
I just want to clarify a couple of points.
Charles wrote:
> The fact that I was never even informed about the existense
> of this manual really annoys me. It seems as if RSI expects
> you to take the training course if you want to do anything
> but the basics in IDL. Another thing that frustrates me is
> that even if the training course was free, for me
> reading the manual was enough. I would not want to waste
> time traveling to and from the training site.
I don't think RSI tried to hide the existence of these
manuals at all. They were on the official IDL price list
from the day I wrote them. And although there was (and
still is) a rule about responding to newsgroup articles,
I probably wrote 5-6 private e-mails a day answering questions
and letting people know the manuals were available. This is
probably the "fluke" you mention for how you came to hear
about the manuals.
And although I am pleased that you were able to read the
manuals and learn what you needed to know, there is no
comparison at all between what you learn in a manual
(even a very good manual) and what you learn in a class.
I had many discussions at RSI about whether the sales
of the manuals would cut into course revenue. My position
has always been that to think so is nonsense. I personally
think people who come to classes (well, at least *my* classes
:-) )learn far more information than they can get from
the manual alone.
But more importantly, the information you learn is
much more current. To some extent the stuff an author
commits to paper is old hat. If you are any good as an
instructor or as an IDL programmer you grow and mature
and the way you do things changes, sometimes dramatically.
Building Graphical User Interfaces in IDL was a good manual,
but I would not recommend using it now as an example of good
programming style. It was written almost two years ago.
Bill wrote:
> Fortunately, I think we are all in luck. It is my understanding
> that David is currently working on an IDL book which is to include
> some coverage of the newly added object functionality which has
> been incorporated into IDL 5.0.
>
> David, what is the status of this latest venture of yours?
When I worked for RSI I was fortunate enough to have "creation
of training materials" as part of my job description. This made
it much, much easier to put other things aside and work on
manuals. (And one thing I don't think anyone really appreciates
is how much hard work it takes to produce a good manual. I mean
look around you on your book shelf. How many do you see? I had
the leisure, because I worked at home and nobody knew what the
hell I was doing, to do it right. Most technical writers do not
work under such perfect circumstances. That they do as well as
they do is a mystery to me. I could not do their job.)
Anyway, book producing nowadays is not a revenue producing
operation. (How much would you want to pay for one of those
manuals, anyway, Charles?) I have to jam it in around trying
to make a living, carting children to 5-10 soccer and basketball
practices and games a week, and learning stuff that people
expect me to be an expert on.
That said, I am about a chapter away from having a book that
is the equivalent, I suppose, of the Learning IDL manual I
wrote for RSI. All of the graphics chapters are done, as are
the hardcopy output chapters, etc. It is a book about practical
programming techniques and the tricks that you can only
learn from a lot of programming experience.
The intended audience for this book are people just starting
to work with IDL and those people who have had to learn IDL
on their own from the IDL manuals. I am very pleased with it.
I've taught enough IDL classes to think I know what people
want and need to learn about IDL. This book covers those
essential things. Looking ahead at my summer schedule, that
book should be for sale by the end of the summer, if not sooner.
The second book I have in mind to write will be concerned with
writing larger IDL programs and applications. It will be
the equivalent of Building Graphical User Interfaces. It will
cover object graphics (if I can learn them!), widget programming,
and what I think of as the "art" of writing good IDL programs.
I do not have a release date in mind for that book.
In any case, when the book is ready I am sure you will hear
about it. :-) It will come with a lot of example programs
that I think demonstrate good programming techniques. I am
going to self-publish it.
In the meantime, check out the programs and article on my
web page. This is where I try out new ideas and get feedback
on what customers need and want. The example programs there
often reflect my thinking today on the proper way to write
IDL programs. I hope there is something there for people
who don't want to pay $$$ for training. And I always hold
something back, so that the people who *do* want to pay $$$
always get their money's worth. :-)
Cheers,
David
------------------------------------------------------------ -----
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Customizable IDL Programming Courses
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com
IDL 5 Reports: http://www.dfanning.com/documents/anomaly5.html
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