Re: Documentation for DSSSL

[Adam Di Carlo <adam@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul Tyson <ptyso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> On a related topic, Adam Di Carlo wrote:
> > ... If you look at
> > SICP, the authors actually teach scheme kinda "on the sly" while
> > really teaching about abstraction, modularity, and good programming
> > style.
> > 
> > I think a DSSSL book should be written similarly.  Don't actually
> > teach Scheme per se, but just introduce the bits of syntax one by one,
> > explaining as you go.  Keep the user focussed on the problem of how to
> > render documents.  I think such an interative, approach, starting very
> > simply and working up to complex DSSSL examples, would work quite
> > well.

> Adam is spot on.  Gradus ad parnassum.  Although I don't think this
> should supplant a "Handbook" approach, it could be an inspiring
> invitation to beginning users.

Thanks.  Thinking more about this project, it really intrigues me.  An
iterative approach would really work quite well also since you can
start with really simple DTDs (a la Jon Bosak's mail DSSSL examples)
and then build up both the structure of the document, the employment
of more advanced Scheme programming features, the description of the
processing model (i.e., groves), and the complexity of what you're
trying to accomplish with DSSSL.

I think a sucessful book would also have a chapter dedicated to Norm's
DocBook stylesheets (how to use, how to tweak parameters, code
techniques Norm uses, and how to customize the stylesheets more
deeply), although I'm not sure if Norm's new docbook book covers that
or not.

I'm not sure if such a book should cover both the print style backends
and the jade transformation backends.  Probably...

God, I only wish I could clone myself so I had time to really work on
this project in a serious way...  It would be a great way for me to
really learn more about groves.

--
.....Adam Di Carlo....adam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<URL:http://www.onShore.com/>


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