Re: Why should a tech writer learn XML?
And you have to agree that the original statement with which you took offence is absolutely valid for reuse and tweaking of existing code for the hundreds of standard behind the scenes operations and many of the on-screen interfaces.
Actually, the original statement was even less offensive and more valid than that.
The original statement was:
He laughed and said, "I've done a lot of programming by just
tweaking an example until it works, without ever having to
learn the concepts!"
The point I made in response is that this is as good a way as any to learn a language well enough to use it for however high a purpose you have in mind.
If John wants to fancy himself an expert (I'm not suggesting he isn't) in designing software from the user's perspective, then he has no need to master the theoretical inticacies of computer language design or the theoretical underpinnings of various programming styles. He needs to know only enough to make the software meet the user's needs.
Let's look at this from a different perspective. Kids learn their native language by listening, imitating, and being corrected (yeah, there's more to it than that; but those are the externally visible behaviors). If they have well spoken role models in the household, they eventually get to the point where they are speaking in something resembling standard diction long before they are ever exposed to a textbook on English usage, let alone a prescriptivist grammar.
Computer languages can be taught top-down using Backus-Naur (sp?) notation, and there's a place for that in CS curricula, I'm sure. But people can learn to write well formed code by immersing themselves in working code written by other people and learning the grammar bottom-up.
Yes, it helps to have a general understanding of what a computer language is and how it converts your clever sentences into something the CPU can execute. But there is nothing wrong with picking up your nth language by just diving right in and tweaking examples until you get them to do what you want them to.
Dick
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RE: RE: Why should a tech writer learn XML?: From: eric . dunn
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