Re: RPG

Having taught RPG to a _lot_ of non-RPGers John I’ll just say that in my opinion you are wrong.

Also I never said anything about free-format - although I think it is important.

There are a number of enhancements over the years that I have found to be very important to folks learning RPG in part because they are the norm in other languages. e.g Multi-dimensional arrays, nested data structures, etc. etc.

There have also been changes in subprocedures - in particular the removal of the requirement to always have prototypes, something that really bugs and confuses newbies because it made no sense for local subprocs.

Brad does good work and treats his customers well - I just wish that Rochester Connection would do more to update the materials they sell.


Jon Paris

www.partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com

On Jul 19, 2016, at 1:24 PM, John Yeung <gallium.arsenide@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 12:24 PM, Bradley Stone <bvstone@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If by out of date you mean "it's not free format RPG" then I'd probably
agree. Most of the topics are "timeless".

I don't have to see the tutorial to know that I agree with this 100%.

Unless I am really, really weird (and I know that is a possibility),
the difference between fixed format and free format is simply not an
issue. The advice to "learn free, because it's more like other
languages you already know"[1] is... well, certainly not actively
harmful, but I honestly think it's not very useful either.

As someone who learned other languages long before RPG, I can tell you
that the visual adjustment between fixed and free is not something
that requires too much mental effort. You look at enough code, you get
used to it.

The concepts that really set RPG apart (like indicators, the cycle,
display files, etc.) are the things that require active attention and
study, and these are just as easily illustrated with fixed format as
free.

[1] If you're coming to RPG from other languages, you may well find
free format *trickier* to learn than fixed, because free format teases
you with how similar it is in some ways, but then has crazy quirks
like semicolons required after the IF and ELSE statements. I am still
continually forgetting them.

John Y.
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