viking@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (Jon W. Backstrom) (05/10/89)
Joesph Hall was asking for takers to oversee the development of the Usenet Macintosh Programmer's Guide... I'm an instructional designer with a programming background who is also new to Mac programming. I am skilled at organizing information and developing instructional material, however, and I would be willing to spend the summer working on this project. The main role I would play would be to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and to act as an editor and contributor. The biggest need I see is a 'bootstrap' for programmers who already know Pascal or C that would introduce what's new and different in the Mac world. Programming examples would be key, but I'd like to be able to read a manuscript that would help me understand what I need to know in order to begin to write a Mac program from the start. I would like to start with building simple applications but quickly move on to the use of TransSkel for both Pascal and C. I would prefer to use Lightspeed Pascal and Lightspeed C as the standard example compilers, but info on MPW would also be needed. It would be best if examples had conditional compiler switches for Lightspeed or MPW. Information on tools such as ResTools 3.20 and ResEdit for building and editing resources would also be necessary. Building a list of recommended tools, INITs, CDEVs, etc (and making them available) would seem to be the first logical step. We can then begin building a knowledge base from the same point of reference. I'd like to keep the software tools for program development focused on public domain, shareware, or inexpensive packages, so our efforts can benefit the greatest number possible. A special account has been established for the project, if the Usenet community would like to give me a shot. Bi-weekly progress reports would be posted so progress could be monitored by everyone. If you're interested, write to: media@silver.bacs.indiana.edu I am a former Technical Communications Specialist for the Computer Science Department at Indiana University. Currently, I am completing my Ph.D. research and producing instructional reference material through my own non-profit research institute. I would like to see this project succeed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jon W. Backstrom "Yah sure...we gonna have fun, you bet!" Institute for Digital Arts P.O. Box 176 Internet: viking@silver.bacs.indiana.edu Bloomington, IN 47402-0176 UUCP: {ames,rutgers,att}!iuvax!silver!viking -------------------------------------------------------------------------------