Re: [pollen] Automatic non-breaking space inserter in Russian

[Matthew Butterick]

> On Aug 21, 2018, at 9:12 AM, Natanael de Kross  wrote:
> 
> I mean there is so much going on and I know so little. Last month it's like a 
> whole new world got opened to me. My to-learn list is huge enough already and 
> my head is going to explode. But I can't say that I don't enjoy the process. 
> Anyway, I'm resilient and optimistic. I will manage it.


> It turned out that HTDP is not about Racket, it's about designing programs in 
> general (which is also good for me) and it uses BSL instead of Racket. So in 
> addition to Racket I also need to learn Regular Expressions, HTML, CSS, JS 
> and web typography tricks, not to mention Pollen itself to be able to publish 
> a decent book. All in all I'm an utter noob to the field.


At least you're starting with strong motivation. ;)

The challenge then becomes maintaining the motivation during the periods where 
things are broken (as, inevitably, they will be). 

My free advice to anyone in your position would be to work "horizontally" by 
making an end-to-end prototype of the project (e.g., simple Pollen source files 
that produce simple HTML). Then, iteratively improve parts of it, moving from 
bigger issues to smaller details. 

This is in contrast to working "vertically" where one tries to complete one 
part at a time, in detail, before moving onto the next part. This tends to be 
harder, less rewarding, and takes more time (because it's easier to develop 
faulty intuitions about the project when you're not iterating on a working 
version of the system).


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Re: [pollen] Automatic non-breaking space inserter in Russian

[Natanael de Kross]

> My free advice to anyone in your position would be to work "horizontally" by 
> making an end-to-end prototype of the project (e.g., simple Pollen source 
> files that produce simple HTML). Then, iteratively improve parts of it, 
> moving from bigger issues to smaller details. 

> This is in contrast to working "vertically" where one tries to complete one 
> part at a time, in detail, before moving onto the next part. This tends to be 
> harder, less rewarding, and takes more time (because it's easier to develop 
> faulty intuitions about the project when you're not iterating on a working 
> version of the system).

This is actually a very good piece of advice, Matthew. As always. I'm too 
concentrated on little details. Perhaps, it's my frustration that web doesn't 
offer the same amount of control as print design. I must switch on making more 
fun things like UI/UX design, that I can do, and then return to small details 
like non-breaking spaces and widow control. I got too fixated. I already have 
good enough HTML to work on and the book cover is coming. And continue on 
exploring Racket and programming to gain more knowledge. 

> On Aug 21, 2018, at 4:57 PM, Matthew Butterick  wrote:
> 
> 
>> On Aug 21, 2018, at 9:12 AM, Natanael de Kross > > wrote:
>> 
>> I mean there is so much going on and I know so little. Last month it's like 
>> a whole new world got opened to me. My to-learn list is huge enough already 
>> and my head is going to explode. But I can't say that I don't enjoy the 
>> process. Anyway, I'm resilient and optimistic. I will manage it.
> 
> 
>> It turned out that HTDP is not about Racket, it's about designing programs 
>> in general (which is also good for me) and it uses BSL instead of Racket. So 
>> in addition to Racket I also need to learn Regular Expressions, HTML, CSS, 
>> JS and web typography tricks, not to mention Pollen itself to be able to 
>> publish a decent book. All in all I'm an utter noob to the field.
> 
> 
> At least you're starting with strong motivation. ;)
> 
> The challenge then becomes maintaining the motivation during the periods 
> where things are broken (as, inevitably, they will be). 
> 
> My free advice to anyone in your position would be to work "horizontally" by 
> making an end-to-end prototype of the project (e.g., simple Pollen source 
> files that produce simple HTML). Then, iteratively improve parts of it, 
> moving from bigger issues to smaller details. 
> 
> This is in contrast to working "vertically" where one tries to complete one 
> part at a time, in detail, before moving onto the next part. This tends to be 
> harder, less rewarding, and takes more time (because it's easier to develop 
> faulty intuitions about the project when you're not iterating on a working 
> version of the system).
> 
> 

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