[plt-scheme] Re: Visual Studio .NET ...easier than PLT Scheme

Joe Marshall wrote:

> Isn't the point of higher-level languages to abstract out `boilerplate'?

I think even a wizard that asks the user 10 questions and then just 
spits out

(wizard-result-fn ANS_1 ... ANS_10)

as its generated code would be useful. In my opinion, wizards in 
DrScheme wouldn't add a fundamentally new method of abstraction, but would:

1. provide a menu item so users can discover new features they didn't 
know about or serve as easier mnemonics for libraries they use 
infrequently - I always have to look up the gui functions in the help 
desk, but I wouldn't have to if there were a GUI wizard, for example, 
and new users would probably discover lots of libraries and language 
features they'd never know existed otherwise.
2. provide alternate ways of indicating particular arguments. Sure, we 
know how to write down color as a number, but it's easier to have a 
color-picker so we can directly see what the end effect is going to be. 
Even if that translates directly into a single datum, I would still 
consider it a win.

So I don't think the 'wizards = boilerplate' equation is quite correct.

-jacob