"Better" and "Perfect" are the enemies of "What Is Needed"
Jecel,
97%, sounds good to me. There are early projects from 7 or 8 years ago that are not as well done as the later ones. As I became a better teacher, so too did my student's projects.
I do not understand all the steps a visitor to our site would need to take to get one of those projects to open. The fewer steps the better, the fewer roadblock hurdles to get over the better especially for young children or cautious adult beginners.
Have a good weekend, it is sunny and cool here.
Regards,
Kathleen
________________________________________
From: etoys-dev-bounces@squeakland.org [etoys-dev-bounces@squeakland.org] on behalf of Jecel Assumpcao Jr. [jecel@merlintec.com]
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2013 2:37 PM
To: etoys-dev@squeakland.org dev
Subject: Re: [etoys-dev] Etoys in Javascript
Kathleen Harness wrote:
> > Let's keep "compatibility with current projects" at the top of our requirements
> > for the changes to Etoys being considered here.
I fully agree with that priority. Note that we were talking about a
completely new Etoys and not a changed one. I was just trying to make
clear what the cost of the different options are.
> > I know Bert mentioned this recently and I am very grateful that he values what
> > we have been doing here in Illinois.
> >
> > If the library collection of projects on EtoysIllinois will not run in Etoys it would
> > be the end of us. We can not meet again with the hundreds of students who
> > made those projects.
> >
> > The example projects and lesson materials were developed in classrooms and
> > reflect years of experimentation with project ideas that make programming
> > relevant to young children's interests and knowledge.
Yes, that is far more important than any specific Etoys feature in my
opinion as well. In the Squeak community, after Edgar De Cleene it is
likely that I have been the most vocal about keeping old stuff working.
Bert Freudenberg wrote:
> would converting the projects be okay? Meaning, suppose the "Javascript Etoys"
> couldn't read the old project files directly, but there was a way to export a project
> from Squeak Etoys into another file that could be imported by Javascript Etoys,
> would that be sufficient?
That sounds like an interesting plan. I had only though about putting
all of the conversion work in the new system, but it is true that some
things are easier to do inside the original system. It might be the case
that getting 100% of the projects converted is really hard but 97% is
reasonably easy. It would be a good idea to find out, specially if the
3% turn out not to be among the most important projects.
-- Jecel
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To some of us, writing computer programs is a fascinating game. A program is a building of thought. It is costless to build, weightless, growing easily under our typing hands. If we get carried away, its size and complexity will grow out of control, confusing even the one who created it. This is the main problem of programming. It is why so much of today's software tends to crash, fail, screw up.
When a program works, it is beautiful. The art of programming is the skill of controlling complexity. The great program is subdued, made simple in its complexity.
- Martin Harverbeke (from Eloquent JavaScript)