Hallo Parrot,
we are well aware that the documentation for Perl 6 is quite lacking.
Any contributions in that area are greatly appreciated.
Am 23.05.2012 01:35, schrieb Parrot Raiser:
The problem we have is to provide a path for learning 6, that presents a
comprehensible but useful subset of the language to the average user
as soon as possible, while leading the programmer with more complex needs,
(and greater abilities), to the features they need or will appreciate.
The Synopses are comprehensive. They define the language in great depth,
feature by feature, (some features bordering on the pathological, "do not
try this at home"). Since they specify what the language is to become, not
what is implemented at present, they can be frustrating to follow. Maybe
it's just an effect of advancing age, but it's easy to forget the contents
of a previous synopsis by the time one has read the next. The Perl 6
Tablets have a similar organisation, and hence the same problem.
The synospis were not originally meant as learning material, and they
still are not. It's easy to forget, because they are the most
comprehensive documents out there. But you don't learn Java by reading
the specification either.
I haven't recently revisited the book in Rakudo*, but it struck me, last
time I looked, as a powerful deterrent to learning the language. It starts
with the tricky stuff.
It's by design that it starts with tricky stuff, because it's not
directed at somebody who is new to programming. There are a lot of
programmers who know several programming languages already, and who
don't want to read a whole page on how to print 'Hello World', 5 pages
on if-statements and while-loops and another 10 pages explaining lists
and iteration.
At this point, Rakudo mostly appeals to language enthusiasts and early
adopters, so that's quite a good fit.
In the long run, we need a book for beginners too.
An attempt to write materials for beginners is at.
https://github.com/perlpilot/perl6-docs/
But much more is needed. Please help us with it.
Cheers,
Moritz
