Posted by Nicholas Moore on Feb 13, 2012; 1:15pm
URL: https://forum.world.st/Vision-for-Aida-tp4376327p4383709.html

Hi,

 I think a major challenge here is to address who a tutorial might be aimed at. If we had unlimited resources :-) we could have a number of different tutorial entry points, according to the intended users background and desire.

Given that Aida's tutorials need to develop, I suggest that we think in terms of use-cases, start simple and add features as we go. For instance we might decide to build an interactive, membership-based web application - something that would allow a user to log on, post messages, subscribe to RSS, download from a secure site etc.

If we identify several stages in the creation of such an app and build a tutorial around each stage, new users will be able to complete each stage while also seeing a greater context. More sophisticated aspects of Aida and Smalltalk could be introduced at each stage.

Is the intended audience experienced in Smalltalk, or web design/html or both, or neither? We might address this by designing the stages of the tutorials such that a person could select tutorials as appropriate to their background.

It seems to me that the design of the tutorial programme and it's content is the first item on the agenda.

My two-pennyworth.

Nicholas

On 13/02/12 11:09, Janko Mivšek wrote:

Hi guys,

Current tutorial seems to let the people develop an impression (as in
this Reddit comment [1]) of "Aida as being well-suited for writing
websites, and Seaside as being well-suited for writing web applications".

This is certaily not true, Aida is using mainly in business web
applications almost from the start. Well, from the start it was
developed for our main book publisher webshop, a public website
therefore, but since then it is with few exceptions used exclusively for
web apps.

So, we need to improve a tutorial to show its strengths for building web
apps ASAP. Specially that natural transition from a classical webpage
approach to so called Single-Page web application.

Best regards
Janko

[1]
http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/pjggx/vision_and_plans_for_aida_smalltalk_web_framework/



S, Janko Mivšek piše:

Hi David,

Let me first welcome to the list and in the Aida world!

I really like RoR tutorial http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ . Maybe a
translation to Aida? The beauty of that tutorial is also how it
explains the use of TDD (or BDD), git, ... , or how things work in
Ruby, not strictly only Rails.
But ofcourse, you need to decide what your audience for an Aida
tutorial is: experienced Smalltalk-users, newcomers, ...

Wow, this tutorial is a whole book! We certainly don't have resources
for something like that but we can be inspired with the structure and
ideas of that tutorial. Like how it is gradually improving your
knowledge from chapter to chapter.

So current tutorial is too short? What is your feeling when you finish
it? Do you have some "aha" moment? Do you want more but you don't know
where to proceed?

Best regards
Janko

S, David Jacobs piše:

2012/2/10 Janko Mivšek [hidden email]:

S, Robert Calco piše:

I think Aida needs a much better, much more in-depth tutorial, that
really highlights its best parts, and suggests where it's going to get
better over time.

Ok, let we start improving documentation by improving a tutorial. So far
we have two articles:

1. Tutorial for a "traditional" Aida [1]
2. ToDo example in-depth description [2]

Indeed, Aida could use more tutorials.

One solution would be to introduce another tutorial for a simple
ajaxified web app, with widgets, realtime form validation etc. then
continue with current one to shows the traditional Aida as well. and
then ToDo example description.

Any ideas, how to proceed?

I really like RoR tutorial http://ruby.railstutorial.org/ . Maybe a
translation to Aida? The beauty of that tutorial is also how it
explains the use of TDD (or BDD), git, ... , or how things work in
Ruby, not strictly only Rails.
But ofcourse, you need to decide what your audience for an Aida
tutorial is: experienced Smalltalk-users, newcomers, ...

Kind regards,
 - david (new to Smalltalk & Aida)
_______________________________________________
Aida mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.aidaweb.si/mailman/listinfo/aida

_______________________________________________
Aida mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.aidaweb.si/mailman/listinfo/aida