[fpc-pascal] Working on a new way to educate people about pascal

[Wols Lists]

On 28/12/2022 07:12, Christo Crause via fpc-pascal wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 6:47 PM Anthony Walter via fpc-pascal 
> <fpc-pascal at lists.freepascal.org 
> <mailto:fpc-pascal at lists.freepascal.org>> wrote:
> 
>     My idea is to implement a web page system where syntax highlight
>     code is presented like in the Lazarus IDE, and special links are
>     peppered through and explanation of how and why Pascal works by
>     using some example programs. When the user highlights the special
>     link, the relevant source code is highlighted in the syntax window.
>     This then hopefully allows people to understand a bit more about
>     pascal by pairing the explanations with lines of source code.
> 
>     Let me know if you think this approach has any merit or if you think
>     my guide could be altered to be a bit more clean in places. As a
>     reminder, this page is a wiki, so you cna submit edits to me by
>     clicking the edit link at the top of the page. I am able to see and
>     merge your edits.
> 
> 
> I like the concept implemented in this guide.  A small problem I noticed 
> is when the source code snippet linked to is not visible, clicking the 
> link does not move the code snippet into view. This is obviously a 
> tricky situation since moving the code into view may require shifting 
> the rest of the document, which may not be desirable.
> 
> Explaining the layout and structure of a Pascal program using an example 
> is a good idea. However, the example topic is quite advanced so a 
> non-programmer would probably be completely lost regarding the purpose 
> of the code itself.  Programmers from other languages may also not 
> understand the concept of a form or the Application instance.  As 
> suggested, perhaps the example itself should be simple enough so that a 
> non-programmer can understand the intention of the code.
> 
And having seen a bunch of references to SQL, well my thoughts could be 
described as "unprintable".

IMNSHO SQL/Relational seriously breaches Einstein's dictum "make things 
as simple as possible (but no simpler)". Relational is TOO SIMPLE to be 
a serious database, which makes SQL seriously incomprehensible, and the 
whole combo misses the sweet spot by a country light year.

If you know me, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about :-)

Cheers,
Wol