Re: The flexibility of printed information

[Bob Caryl <bob fis-cal com>]

Hey Jamiil,

Sounds like you've found yourself a mission in life!

Bob

Jamiil wrote:

> Ever since I started tinkering around the GTK+ and later on Gtkmm
> toolkits, I've noticed a steady flow of programmers talking more and
> more, and more passionately, about these toolkits.
>
> It came as a blessing when "Sams Teach Yourself GTK+ Programming in 21
> Days" was put on the bookstores' shelves in the year 2000. I remember
> having to line up at the teller and noticing that two out of five
> people had this book in their baskets or under their arms. That was my
> queue to get on my newly installed Linux box and start typing GTK+
> code, sooner than later, I said to myself, this toolkit will become a
> bread maker. Six years have gone by and there are very few programmers
> who don't know what GTK+ is, and they are now making bread with it
> (that is. are making money with it, in case you don't get my meaning).
> I have found many GUI applications written in the C++ paradigm, but
> using GTK+ code, which we fondly called "GTK++ code". The reason these
> programmers are doing this is because it is easy to learn from a book,
> since it can be taken to an unoccupied boardroom or a coffee shop. I
> have found myself reading for hours in front of the computer,
> neglecting my own biological needs because I cannot take the PC to
> attend to them, or in buses or airplanes wishing I was able to just
> pull a book and continue reading more about Gtkmm. The flexibility
> that printed information provides is undoubtedly unmatchable.
>
> The documentation of Gtkmm is substantial and reach with examples,
> however, for some programmers, like myself, who find the eloquence of
> a book as important as the dry and tacit information it tries to
> convey, as well the ability to carry that information to a more
> convenient very important, a book on Gtkmm would come as true blessing.
>
> Gtkmm is no longer a baby child of GTK+, it has become a young adult
> deserving of recognition and a status of independence. A book on Gtkmm
> *must be written, there is no other option, and this must be done
> before new programmers start to drift away, to a less powerful, but
> more flexibly documented toolkit.
>