Hereās a quick update about the progress of this project. Itās about 12% complete. Thatās slower than expected, but the project should move more swiftly now. (About four work days were diverted to get Apparatuses online.) Also, Iām moving a little bit slower because I want the book to look nice.
Oh yeah, and I think I might be going a little crazy.
(Shooting Stars started playing on my playlist while animating the fish. Heh, felt like the perfect background music.)
I got up to the āRotation follows motionā part. I started wondering if I should add a graphic to better explain the effect. Next thing I know, Iām drawing a fish. HA HA!
Iām not sure if Iāll use it. What do you think?
Looks like there's an update to an earlier statementā¦
...since December, I've been copying and pasting the previous book content into the new book ā creating new screenshots and updating the text. That part of the project is almost done.
The goal is to have a beefy sized book ā 500 pages. But after migrating the content, the book is around 250 pages. The remaining "Publishing" section content needs serious updating and the last two chapters of the "Examples" section are moving into a new game development section.
That means about half of the book will be new content.
Since the project is now moving into the original content stage, I was looking back at old messages and comments for ideas. Here's one in particularā¦
While this book isn't meant to cover every aspect of JavaScript, are you interested in a "crash course" chapter about JavaScript?
Yes, I would like a chapter about basic JavaScript.
No, there are plenty of JavaScript guides already. Use that book space for new Hype content.
0voters
If you don't want a JavaScript chapter, what would you like to see instead?
I donāt think a one chapter crash course on JavaScript is going to satisfy beginners. The shortest one I have seen is about 100 pages long with a nice amount of white space and line spacing for easy reading. There are also plenty of examples of how the various pieces fit together as You move through the book. A generous amount of examples are critical especially when learning something new.
I doubt this could be pulled off in a chapter (say 25 pages?). While beginners can definitely learn something in this amount of space they will be like the blind man feeling an elephant - the description of the animal will vary with the area being touched. They need to see the whole beast.
I donāt understand the resistance to buying a book dedicated to the subject.
Actually, you don't even need to buy a book about JavaScript. There are plenty of free resources available.
I was actually thinking something shorter than that ā closer to a cheat sheet, but probably somewhere in the middle ā more like 10 pages so people can get up to speed.
The chapter would be for beginners.
So far, looks like I'm leaving the chapter out. HA HA. There are only two votes so far though.
Hopefully Iām not wasting my time with this project, as Iām putting a lot of work into the book. Nah, of course Iām not wasting my time. When I look at the book so far, I smile. I think itās really goodā¦ and thatās without the freshly killed trees smell.
Being a newbie in the world of coding, specifically HTML5, CSS3 & JavaScript, I believe the chapter on JS and how it works with hype would be helpful. JavaScript is a training in itself but, to brush up a little on the topic, I believe I see fit. JimScott, agreed to a certain point.
As someone who is just getting to start their education and training in JS, I understand that in older code writing is what uses var and it has been substituted now by let yet, they are both used for variable declaration in JS. At least thatās what the training Iām taking right now specifiesā¦
And so thatās why I believe JS should not only be brushed up lightly in the book, if you are going to take that route is because JS is a whole other training in itself. Things like the definitions should be synchronous with the latest and greatest standards.
Yep let is also a good point to add. But could become confusing in a short basic explanation.
Also it is not a substitute for var.
It has different scope and definition implications
You didn't totally rule it out, so you're saying there's a chance.
Maybe you too will want to have "A Book About Hype" up on your shelf, as a symbol of your mental prowess in the area of web animation, design, and development.
Anyway, the poll is still stuck at two votes. Right now I'm leaning towards not including a JavaScript explanation section. I have some radically new ideas for Hype templates. I suspect people will be more appreciative of that.
Shoot! Clicked the wronk button. Can I change my vote to ānoā? I rather see you focus on Hype and after the books finished, maybe spend time on an addendum?
I think the book project is great and I will buy a copy out of curiosity alone. I am also investing in Hype Cookbook (although I was busy with birthdays and client work the past month). I think THIS book (by @Photics) is and will be a must have for beginners and people starting out. I intentionally didnāt try to overlap the scope to much with my effort. So I am focusing on ārecipesā, ideas/lookups and useful code fragments. Basically it is aimed at more advanced users. Also it wonāt be published as a hardback apart of maybe some print on demand copy if backers want it.
Coming back to the topic of JS in this bookā¦ it most likely a book of its own but there is this special breed of Hype specific API calls. This certainly canāt be found elsewhere and that is the sweet spot on JS for a book about Hype in my opinion at least. Also some basics on understanding JS and Hype function scopes.
A page dedicated to offering links (and maybe short commentary about each suggestion) to various resources (on-line & printed books) for the beginning JavaScripter I would think to be of great value.
I've decided to add a "JavaScript Basics" section. Here's why...
There's a lot of JavaScript in this book. I feel like some beginner info is needed.
I linked to two places to learn about JavaScript. I had trouble deciding on a third. So, I'm making own.
I just added 14 pages on Accessibility. It's not the definitive guide on Accessibility, but it covers the basics (as related to Hype) and lists URLs to get even more information. I'm thinking that the same should be done for JavaScript.
More people voted to include the JavaScript basics.
While this is a book about Hype, I see Hype as a stepping stone to becoming a well-rounded web developer / designer. The book needs to reflect that. There's something special about starting with Hype as a web design / development tool. As you use it, you change. You become better. You rely less on the GUI and dig more into the code. So, including some basic JavaScript information can help speed up that process.