> You have to learn web programming to do anything.
Sorry, but I don't see how that is at all different than "you have to learn the Hypercard scripting language to do anything."
Sorry, but I don't see how that is at all different than "you have to learn the Hypercard scripting language to do anything."
It would be utterly risible to suggest that a child of similar age and prior experience could do the same today, starting from scratch with web technologies. Yes, you can do more with the modern web. But the initial complexity barrier is very much higher.
That’s after work his way through much of the book, of course, but... as with any complex domain, the right teacher can make a big difference.
That's not to say it isn't a significant accomplishment, and he should be proud of it!
It’s pretty much all the major elements of web programming but using the more elegant ways of simplifying the experience.
I’m not denying the complexity just saying that there are still many (particularly in Python or in cloud PaaSes) who value streamlining the experience.
I get the sense the book tries to surf the reader over the top of most of that ocean, and that's reasonable enough, but the ocean is still there. I wouldn't consider it all that comparable to Hypercard, which in this metaphor I guess is more like the town pool back when those still existed? People who are ready for the deep end can dive into it, and people who feel like paddling around in the shallow end is more their speed can safely do that too.
But that's building on close to twenty years of working in the field, and a bit over three decades since I first put my hands on an Apple IIe's keyboard and wrote
10 PRINT "HELLO"
20 GOTO 10