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Re: lilypond-user Digest, Vol 149, Issue 155


From: Kieren MacMillan
Subject: Re: lilypond-user Digest, Vol 149, Issue 155
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 18:52:53 -0400

Hi,

> There is no getting around the fact that lilypond is a programming language.

Nope.

> I don't see how to bridge that gap except with GUIs.

If you mean "make it so that users don’t realize it’s a programming language 
while they’re using it", then I agree.

> it makes me feel frustrated as a professional programmer that after years of 
> using lilypond, I still have very little clue how it works

I’ve heard you say that a lot, and it confuses me. As an erstwhile professional 
programmer (thankfully just about to take down my shingle for a long sabbatical 
of composition, and hopefully forever!), *how* Lilypond works has been clear to 
me almost from my first day working with it. Now *making* it do what I want 
(e.g., coding in Scheme or C++) is a different story…

> they would be a simple, high-level introduction about how all the pieces and 
> parts are put together, so you could say, "ok, here's where the stuff I'm 
> doing fits in, so here is the type of info that I will need to learn”. 

There are both scope and chicken/egg problems with that idea (or, at least, 
what I *infer* is your idea). For example, let’s say you want to teach a newbie 
how to write a simple song with piano accompaniment.

1. Do you teach them \relative mode (which is confusing to many newbies, and 
ultimately not a best practice anyway)?

2. Do you break out the dynamics into a separate context (which for more 
complex pieces is probably a best practice)? If so, you need to introduce the 
concept of contexts, and possibly customize them.

3. Do you separate the global items into their own variable (a best practice 
for all but the simplest examples)?

etc. etc. etc.

>> "How do I change the input language to English?"
>> "How do I add a slur?"
>> "How do I adjust the page margins?”

> Yes, I agree that this is the best starting point for documentation: Finding 
> out what users need to know.

When I Google "lilypond add slur”, the third hit is 
<http://www.lilypond.org/doc/v2.18/Documentation/learning/ties-and-slurs>, 
which shows exactly how to add a slur. Is that not direct enough for newbies, 
such that we have to spend valuable (nigh non-existent) resources on making 
more documentation, links, and navigation/search tools?

> A complimentary approach would be to tag the sections of documentation 
> according to various topics.

That at least sounds like a good approach, from a cost/benefit perspective.

> Especially including the things, like "instrument", for which there are no 
> lilypond objects at all.

“No objects” meaning what exactly?

Kieren.
________________________________

Kieren MacMillan, composer
‣ website: www.kierenmacmillan.info
‣ email: address@hidden




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