Thanks so much for the info Richard. Gary's PyQGIS Programmers Guide looks like just what I was talking about. Glad to see this book will soon (hopefully) come out. Should be a great and fill a much needed void.
No, not being paid by ESRI :-) I just know that the first thing people look for is god documentation about software. That alone can be the deciding factor before somebody looses interest or finds it too troublesome to work with. Make things so much easier to figure than going on a hunt every time you want to do something. Plenty of books out there on other free/OS software, especially by PACKT Publishing, would be great to see some more QGIS/PyQGIS materials out there (at least 250 pages, not just a white paper in disguise as a slender book.) OK, so the big selling point I keep reading is that one can use python to write scripts, automate processes, write plugins, even a nice new python console, but there is no api docs for python? That seems very strange! Again, looks like Gary's upcoming book may fill the void. The Introduction in the PyQGIS Cookbook for 2.0 states: "There is a complete QGIS API reference that documents the classes from the QGIS libraries. Pythonic QGIS API is nearly identical to the API in C++." So I click the link but nothing tells me if am looking at the python api or the cpp api. Users will not care about the cpp api, we just want to know how to do all this cool python stuff. If it becomes a hassle or takes to long to figure out (people have clients, budgets, deadlines), then they will get turned off and go back to ArcGIS where everything is explained plainly nice and neatly. ESRI made a HUGE, monumental mistake when it first released ArcObjects with miniscule documentation. Loads of people were fuming. Took them 10 years to get things right again and thank goodness they went on the python path. A very talented programmer I work with here told me that it is well known programmers don't make the best writers. Just absolutely have to make user-friendly documentation about your product, especially the api you keep talking about. David Chrest -----Original Message----- From: Richard Duivenvoorde [mailto:rdmaili...@duif.net] Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 5:00 PM To: Chrest, David; qgis-user@lists.osgeo.org Subject: Re: [Qgis-user] PyQGIS book in the works? Easier to understand online API Documentation? On 11-10-13 22:34, Chrest, David wrote: > Are there plans for a detailed, written in a you-don't-have-to-be > an-experienced-programmer kind of way book that helps explain PyQGIS > and how to use it? I know Gary has plans: http://pyqgis.com/book/availability/ > Python Scripting for ArcGIS by .. > Programming ArcGIS 10.1 with Python .. You are not being paid by them or esri are you ;-) > friendly. Looks like it is written for someone who knows C++. See > http://qgis.org/api/classQgisInterface.html. What in world are Public You are actually pointing to cpp API interface. Currently we do not have separate api docs for python. I know Victor has been busy updating the Python cookbook: http://www.qgis.org/en/docs/pyqgis_developer_cookbook/index.html That should be more informative for beginners? BUT I also have to point you to the fact that QGIS is a community/volunteer driven project, always in need for people wanting to make the use of QGIS a better experience. Indeed most of us have a programming background, so please join the community as a documentation writer (OR pay some experienced doc writers to do it) :-) Regards, Richard Duivenvoorde _______________________________________________ Qgis-user mailing list Qgis-user@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user