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Book club???

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    Book club???

    Hi all,

    Just curious to know if anyone has any recommended reading on A5, preferably with the emphasis on xBasic.

    btw, in preparation for this tectonic shift to A5, I'm going through some old code (and I stress it was code written a long time ago) but in doing so, I'm occasionally struck with the thought of 'what a dumb way of doing it' - what was i thinking?

    Anyone else have thoughts on comparing/reviewing what they wrote, say 10 years ago, with how they would approach it now? I know it should probably be a separate thread but I think if it was, it would seem a tad pretentious for a newbie here. (hate that word 'newbie')

    Many thanks,

    Gary

    #2
    Re: Book club???

    Hi Gary,

    Pretty much the definitive source for that is Dr. Peter Wayne's Xbasic for Everyone.

    https://www.alphasoftware.com/shop/i...asp?PRODID=597

    It used to be available in a printed version but now all I see is PDF. Dr. Wayne is wicked smart when it comes to Alpha and Xbasic for Everyone has some nice real world examples. Dr. Wayne also covers his recommendations for sound coding practices in Xbasic.

    You might want to take a look at Ira Perlow and Cal Locklin's sites as they both have some GREAT info available and they are also both very respected around here for their prowess with Alpha.

    For reference...

    Ira's site

    Cal's Site

    In particular...just my 2 cents.....pay heed to Ira's recommendations for user defined functions and Cal's advice on naming conventions.

    Cal and Ira both have nice utils for sale as well.

    Regards,

    Jeff

    Added Later....

    what was i thinking?.....Anyone else have thoughts on comparing/reviewing what they wrote, say 10 years ago
    ABSOLUTELY!!! :) I think we have all been there. My code is so much more streamlined now......and now in Alpha I have followed Ira's advice of using UDF's and I have a lot of UDF's that are "modular" in that they can be used in multiple places based on what arguments are passed to them. Much easier to maintain code that way.
    Last edited by jkletrovets; 11-14-2009, 03:08 AM.

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      #3
      Re: Book club???

      Originally posted by GaryRockley View Post
      Anyone else have thoughts on comparing/reviewing what they wrote, say 10 years ago, with how they would approach it now?
      And sometimes it's a LOT less than 10 years ago! Especially when trying something new.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Book club???

        Originally posted by GaryRockley View Post
        Anyone else have thoughts on comparing/reviewing what they wrote, say 10 years ago, with how they would approach it now?
        Just this: Most of my apps were begun 10 or more years ago, tables, sets and coding. If I were starting over on them today, almost everything would be very different, particularly naming conventions, table and set design and a good deal of my coding and ways of accomplishing things. One fear I have is that someday I may have to turn these apps over to someone who knows what they are doing and I'll be very embarrassed (a good reason to die first!). In recent years I have had to send some of that old work to Selwyn for bug finding and fixing and I can just imagine what he and his crew thought of some of it. But guess what? I suspect most developers would say similar things about work they did 10 years ago, or as Cal said, maybe even much less than that. And it's ones of the problems with apps that have a long life span and need continual updates and maintenance: You'd like to re-do the whole thing from scratch but if it is for a client, they certainly are not going to pay for that. So one's crappy work just lives on and on!

        Now, for those wanting to get a better start with Alpha Five, look at Cal's material on naming conventions, look at Peter Wayne's books and especially his articles on simplifying tables and sets and on using memo fields on Learnalpha.com. Then there are lots of good things in the tutorials that come with A5, and finally there is a ton of good advice on this board

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          #5
          Re: Book club???

          Raymond, I recognize myself in your story :), I practice The Forth Methodology and it helps me a lot. There is also a disadvantage, the programming process is slower but the result is better.
          Marcel

          I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
          ---- Confusius ----

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            #6
            Re: Book club???

            Version 10 desktop book just released!

            I have been writing books on Alpha Five since Version 4.5. True, my emphasis is not on Xbasic, but I think you'll find them very useful as have many Alpha Five fans.

            We also sell hard copies of Dr. Peter Wayne's Xbasic for Everyone.

            To learn more, go to http://www.libertymanuals.com.

            PS - about rewriting applications - who wouldn't? Wish I had the time to start over!
            sigpic Susan Bush, Liberty Manuals Co. Books for Alpha Anywhere mobile, web and desktop.

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