Re: inform designer's manual problems


Fri, 29 Dec 95 14:05:44 GMT

In article <201316Z28121995@anon.penet.fi> an471336@anon.penet.fi writes:

Please don't be so curt about Graham's manual. It's still a very good book,
and it's free. The poor man hasn't worked for ages developing Inform and
writing this only to be slagged off like this.

> 1. "Exercise" #1 is completely unfair, because the reader
> presumably at that point has no idea of the concept of the
> "general" attribute.

The "exercises" are not consolidation exercises in that sense. I've
always treated then as examples.

> 5. Example of the Dart Board (pg 27) suddenly uses an "ELSE"
> structure. Conditional branches have not up to this point
> been explained at all.

A reasonable tacit assumption, though, since even BASIC nowadays has
IF.. THEN.. ELSE branches.

> 23. "Exercise" 68.... NextWordStopped()??? STOPPED??? Have not
> seen that one before. wn*2-3???? what on earth is that for!
> Not explained. -1:Return?? is this a typo??! I'm confused.

wn*2-3 : Read the section on the format of the array the routine is
gubbinsing around with and you'll understand why this is needed.

> 30. "Exercise" 76. Imagine trying to learn a programming
> language and being told for an Exercise to go and design and
> program your own compiler out of the language you are trying
> to learn.... uh...

There is very little similarity.

> 31. "Ex" #80. "++scope_count"?!?! what on earth??

Is the problem with the preincrement or the variable?
Graham Nelson, no linear thought!?!? Have you played any of his games? ;)

Mg

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