LiveCode Forums.

Hello guys,

For people that are web developers - HTML, CSS and PHP - what is the main concept that you need to learn about LC? Because I feel that is a totally new paradigm to work/learn.

PS: I need to be honest, I haven't used a visual development environment for a long long time. First time I open LC, it's remind me my 90's playing with Delphi and C builder

Hi theux,
Welcome to the forum!

HTML and CSS are for showing stuff, LC is for doing stuff (err.. and you can show it anyway you like).

I think the biggest shift is understanding how much easier LC is, the whole English-like programming means you can just take a wild guess at the command you want. e.g say you want a "ticker tape" scrolling across the screen what verbs come to mind? Scroll? go left? How about move? And there you have your answer.

The stuff you have worked on is browser based, always under the rules of browsers, LC just puts you under the rules of the OS, which are much broader. (ahh the Netscape/IE waste of my time)

Bigger difference? You can wipe the users disk. I'm not suggesting you do that. How is that for a paradigm shift?

FUN! LC is incredibly rewarding, you can figure stuff out with only a little sweat (most of it).

Simon

Hey Simon,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm looking at the documentation and tutorials. There are a lot of them out there But it's only me or are the tutorials a bit fragmented? I mean, i'm feeling there are gaps between them. For a beginner may be hard to 'connect the dots'. Do yo have any recommendation?

Hi theux,
The tutorials are focused on solving problems, not actually leading one through step by step of learning LC.
There are books available if that's the way you learn best. This is one:
http://qery.us/3fi
But there is online:
http://www.hyperactivesw.com/revscriptc ... ences.html
And I guess you found:
http://lessons.runrev.com/

Here in the forums, it's pretty much ask a question and most of the time you'll get an answer (it gets weird when people ask " How do I place my #include pigsbottom"?). But ask anyway.

Simon

Great. Thanks!

I think the main concept is :

-message programming ("one click on this object will send a message, i will then catch this message in order to trigger an action")

and then : message path

Hey bangkok,

Could you elaborate more your answer? I'm interest on it.

Does LC have an OOP or Procedural language/approach?

Hi theux,

ceck this: http://www.fourthworld.com/embassy/arti ... _path.html


Best

Klaus

theux wrote:For people that are web developers - HTML, CSS and PHP - what is the main concept that you need to learn about LC? Because I feel that is a totally new paradigm to work/learn.

How much of the User Guide have you read? If we understand what you've read thus far, we can better suggest specific additions.

PS: I need to be honest, I haven't used a visual development environment for a long long time. First time I open LC, it's remind me my 90's playing with Delphi and C builder

LiveCode may be a bit mind-blowing, but in a good way. LC is a very unusual way of working, but in my experience it offers equally unusual productivity.

Before LiveCode went open source I'd been scouring the world for an open source alternative that would be as productive for me. In the modern world, having an open source option is arguably among the most critical features needed for large-scale adoption, as relatively few companies can make significant investments adopting proprietary tools with which they have no access to the source code, and formal code escrow options are usually prohibitively expensive. In all these years I hadn't found one since there are few typeless, dynamically-compiled languages that also have GUI elements as an integral part of the language. Thankfully, in April that changed when LiveCode began offering their Community Edition.

Because LC is unique, it will at times require a little patience as you get started. In my experience training new users for more than a decade, I've found the learning curve sometimes goes like this:

Day one: "What the hell is going on? I don't understand this. It's nothing like anything I've encountered before."

Two days: "Omigawd, the potential is incredible! If only I knew how to use it all..."

Two weeks: "After reading the language guide and trying some things out, I'm able to do truly productive work."

One month: "Now I can do productive work efficiently."

Three months: "With the flexibility of the language and the handy tools in LiveCode, I'm seeing slightly greater productivity than in my formerly-favorite tool I'd used for years."

Six months: "I love this thing."

One year: "I love this thing like no other."



Welcome aboard.

Hahah nice write up FourthWorld.

Cheers!