Re: Scheme Programming Reference

[Brandon Ibach <bibach@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Quoting Sebastian Rahtz <sebastian.rahtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> Brandon Ibach writes:
>  >    What, I believe, is needed is a book that does for DSSSL what
>  > Goldfarb's "SGML Handbook" did for SGML.  It's actually a
> 
> what Goldfarb did for SGML, arguably, is put off 99% of the people
> who picked up that monstrous tome. I think its a terrible, unhelpful,
> offputting book. it typifies why SGML was such a huge marketing
> failure.
> 
   Okay, maybe that was a poor analogy.  As far as I am concerned, the
"SGML Handbook" was a technical reference for SGML, aimed at people
who were looking to write SGML-based applications and who already
understood the basic concepts.  I found this book to be an invaluable
reference when I was contemplating some SGML-based work.

> we need a *fun* book about DSSSL. and plenty of publishers would risk
> it, if anyone can write such a thing.
> 
   Yes, we need a gentler introduction to DSSSL that will familiarize
people with the concepts.  But, a good annotated copy of the standard,
in my opinion, will always be the best reference material.  When I get
stuck on a concept, I try to find an explanation of it somewhere, then
to make sure I've got it down, I read the appropriate part of the
standard until it all makes sense.  With an annotated standard, you
should be able to find that all in one place.
   Ideally, the annotated standard would make up the latter part of
such a book, and the first part(s) would be chapters which explain the
larger concepts which (at least to a point) transcend the standard.

> which did you read in the old days, the Red PostScript book or the Blue
> one?
> 
   Regrettably, I've never seen either one.  One of these days, tho...

-Brandon :)


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