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Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

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    Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

    I thought I'd collect my thoughts up in one thread as I evaluate Platinum.
    I have evaluated Alpha before, and I am again.

    I'll start the thread off with my current net: this product has come a Long way,
    and at this point, I don't see obstacles to me making a commitment to this product. This might be the time I jump in the water for good.
    It's looking really, really exciting.
    Frank R

    #2
    Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

    Now something that disturbs me a bit. You might think this is a nit, you might not.

    The look of the functions in the libraries. To me, it looks:

    - Old school
    - Inconsistent

    There don't seem to be consistent conventions for the naming of the functions.
    - Some functions named with underscores separating words, some not
    - Some functions named starting with "a5_", some not
    - Some words in function names abbreviated, some not

    I really think stuff like this can chase away people who come from
    certain backgrounds:
    - People who have formally studied modern languages like Java and C#
    - People who are degreed in Comp Sci

    Don't you think the product would be served well with a set of aliases to all the legacy functions that make it look like a more modern language/library?
    Frank R

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

      Frank,

      You are right about the function names, but if Alpha changed the names now?? Can you imagine the broken apps on the next upsgrade??

      .
      Dave Mason
      [email protected]
      Skype is dave.mason46

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

        They could always keep Everything as is but add a set of Aliases to clean it all up.
        Frank R

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

          I am Amazed at the quantity of dialog over the weekend.

          I sometimes monitor a forum of a .NET-based, database-based RAD tool for web app development, and there's No Way I could get help like this over the weekend.

          This place is Great.

          Frank R

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

            Originally posted by FrankR View Post
            I am Amazed at the quantity of dialog over the weekend.
            Yup... I mean the user forum is one thing but I forwarded a question from the forum to Selwyn and Jerry and BOTH replied within an hour or so... :D

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

              So, I'm diving in the water.

              I have a large curve to climb, and I'm really not out of the reading stage yet, but I read a ton over the weekend, looked at some things, and I'm going to become an Alphaholic. :) Seriously, this product in it's current form looks amazing, and I'm optimistic about how much further it can go.

              So - give me a hand, if you can, when I ask questions as I climb the curve.
              I'm diving into the water.
              Woo woo woo woo.

              :)
              Frank R

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Perceptions as I Evaluate Platinum

                Originally posted by FrankR View Post
                So, I'm diving in the water.

                I have a large curve to climb, and I'm really not out of the reading stage yet, but I read a ton over the weekend, looked at some things, and I'm going to become an Alphaholic. :) Seriously, this product in it's current form looks amazing, and I'm optimistic about how much further it can go.

                So - give me a hand, if you can, when I ask questions as I climb the curve.
                I'm diving into the water.
                Woo woo woo woo.

                :)
                Don't worry, we're here for your questions.... it looks like you have just hit that all-important stage of "OMG, OMG.... there is so much you can do with this!"... which is pretty mind-blowing and overwhelming!

                It sounds like you have experience with other development tools, and I think that can be both an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. On the one hand, having that experience means that you have a feeling for what can potentially be done in a development environment (even if no genies or templates etc. exist), which can drive you to learn a lot of new things in a short time...

                ... the downside is that until you really delve into Alpha 5 for abit (and unload all your "prejudices"), your brain always tends to try and solve things the way "Software X" or "Module Y" used to do it, and you end up doing a lot of work just to find out, eventually, that Alpha5 had an easier/more direct or built in, but slightly different solution all along! :o

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