[plt-scheme] A crazy idea (fMUMPS)

On Dec 29, 2005, at 4:59 PM, Greg Woodhouse wrote:

> --- Matthias Felleisen <matthias at ccs.neu.edu> wrote:
>
>> Question: can you turn this program into an application that
>> your colleagues can use, without opening the hood? Will it help
>> them become more productive? If so, you might have found a place
>> to place your lever. Spend some short amount of time every day
>> producing this tool. Use it on your own. Point it out in a team
>> meeting. See it spread.
>
>
> That's the problem. At the time, I wrote a package I could use myself
> by creating hand-edited XML documents, and successfully re-implemented
> two interfaces I developed without making use of the tool. But it isn't
> that easy for others to pick up. I did this all as part of my "day
> job", and time was tight, so I never got around to creating a more
> friendly interface. I did, however, continue to use it myself.
>
> I'll have to think more about how to generalize it (in terms of the
> supported communication patterns) and make it easier to use. Okay, to
> be honest, I guess I kind of wanted to get away from HL7. Developing
> HL7 interfaces just seemed to be the most pressing problem at the time

Make the project fun:
  1. Use PLT Scheme.
  2. Learn to abstract properly:
	functionally, class-based, macros, units.
  3. Add contracts.
  4. Create documentation from contracts.
  5. Write a manual -- that's the reward for the hard work.

That way you achieve more than one purpose: you have a tool,
you are learning a language, you are learning a programming
paradigm that is portable, and you might make new friends,
like here on the mailing list as you ask questions or request
(for example) algorithmic contributions that might just be
good for PLaneT.

See the Pragmatic Programmer on learning a new way of
programming and thinking once a year.

-- Matthias