Re: Success at last...thank you all

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David,

----- Original Message -----
From: <dstanger at belco.bc.ca>
To: "EUforum" <EUforum at topica.com>
Subject: Success at last...thank you all


> I have some questions about Euphoria that I am sure any of you can answer:
>
> (1) I am unfamiliar with the concept of include files. I see get.e in one
of
> the tutorial files that allows the use of prompt_number(). Could someone
> please tell me a little about what include files are and how they work?
Why
> are they necessary? What other include files are there in Euphoria?

Include files are, logically enough, files containing source code that, when
invoked from other files, are merged with the caller. See refman.doc 1.3,
"Running a program". Include files distributed with Euphoria reside in the
\include directory (look at them), but of course anyone can write them. The
.e suffix is Euphoria's convention for include files (C uses .h, and so on).
They are not necessary at all, just convenient, since they allow you to
store standard code you will often want to use in your programs.

> (2) How does one learn all of the various commands for Euphoria? The
> documents with the program only explain a little bit and other than
picking
> through the tutorials and demos (which is fun but I am already half way
> through them) how does one learn? How did you all learn?

How do you think? While some of us had a background in other languages, or
even formal studies, that eased our way into Euphoria, the basic and only
way is to read the docs, try out what you read, test, crash, correct, test
again and so on until your eyes burn out and your fingers fall off. Of
course, there are several good tutorials around (see the RapidEuphoria
site), and it's always useful to look at other people's code, mostly trying
to figure out what they did and how they did it.

> (3) What are libraries? They seem to be a common topic in the forum. Could
> someone please explain what they are and how they are used. They seem like
> something that you can create for yourself which sounds intriguing.

Library is a generic term for code storage external to your program. Include
files are a special case: source libraries. When libraries are mentioned,
it's generally assumed they are compiled. They may or may not be written in
the same language. Windows dlls are libraries. You have to know the name of
a routine contained in a library, the parameters you should pass it and what
it will return to your program, all of which should be documented.

> That is all that I can think of for now. Thanks for all of your help and
> support. I am really starting to take a shine to Euphoria.
>
> David

David, if you're just beginning to get into programming, Euphoria is a very
good way to do it. However, Euphoria is a language, not a generic
programming course. You might find it convenient to read a couple or three
books on programming. My suggestion is to try to be as unspecific as you
can, i.e. don't assume that programming means Windows programming, or Unix
programming, much less Visual Basic or C or Delphi. It may appear a little
boring at first, but there's always something new to learn.

Personally, I prefer books, paper books. Unfortunately, they tend to be
large and expensive, so maybe you could try your hand with some of the many
online books and tutorials you can find on the Net. If I were you, I would:

a) Use a search engine and ask for "Learn programming." My favorite search
engines are www.northernlight.com, www.alltheweb.com and www.google.com, but
there are dozens, if not hundreds around. No doubt everybody will have a
recommendation for you.

b) Go to the big developer sites, and look around. Most carry tutorials on
this and that. You can't lose.

Gerardo

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