[plt-scheme] Re: An Editors Tale

> >>>>> "Guenther" == Guenther Schmidt <gue.schmidt at web.de> writes:
> Guenther> Most people here are so far advanced and already so deeply
> Guenther> inside PLT they can no longer fathom the problems a beginner
> Guenther> faces or gets stuck with. There is no doubt that DrScheme is
> Guenther> very powerful and a skilled programmer can take it to "where
> Guenther> no man has gone before".

On Thu, Jan 29, 2004 at 01:46:05PM +0100, Michael Sperber wrote:
> I'm certainly deeply entrenched in PLT lore, and you keep saying that,
> but I'm still interested to know where precisely your troubles are.
> 
> I've taught many first-semester students, many of whom had no trouble
> figuring out the PLT GUI stuff and wrote quite sophisticated code
> using it.

I suspect that he may be having trouble with the level of indirection
that "programmed" GUI interfaces impose. In the end, you're trying to
create a graphical element. There are two major ways to do that: Draw it
by hand, or develop a formula/code/expression that draws it for you.
Languages like MrEd, Logo, and METAPOST take the latter approach, and
some people really enjoy it. But other folks prefer to *draw* the
elements, like you do in Visual Studio, Adobe Illustrator, or the GIMP.

Being able to visualize and express graphics as formulae is a skill. For
some people, it's very difficult or frustrating to acquire that skill.
For others, it's much easier and more rewarding than manually drawing.
-- 
Bradd W. Szonye
http://www.szonye.com/bradd