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Hello,
While criticism is OK, I am pretty much surprised by some statements of yours.
Your e-mail must come from the fact that you do not know how to
use tools already shipped with AmiBroker (like HTMLHelp).
Personally I find your e-mail pretty unfair considering the amount of
work I have put into documenting AmiBroker. Try writing 800+ pages of docs
(manual, newsletters, how-tos) and preparing video tutorials and then
you will get some idea about what "comprehensive documentation" means.
1. The manual *is* comprehensive. It may not be structured to well
but it covers simply every bit of AB.
2. Compiler DOES locate the error and tells you what is wrong.
It gives you error line and character position and highlights the place
where error occured.
Actually it often gives you much better and long explanations than other languages.
Such as this one:
"Error 3. Condition in IF, WHILE, FOR statements\nhas to be Numeric or Boolean type. You can not use array here,please use [] (array
subscript operator) to access array elements"
This actually tells you WHAT YOU SHOULD DO in order to fix an error
NO OTHER compiler would tell you as detailed error message.
The only thing that need to be improved is that if error occurs
inside for/while loop then the compiler points you to the end of the coding block.
This problem will be addressed but it is unfair to tell that compiler does not
tell you what the problem is.
3. Search in off-line mailing list archive
http://www.amibroker.com/listarchive.html
is based on Microsoft full-text seach engine.
http://www.microsoft.com/mind/0297/htmlhelp.asp
In Microsoft opinion it is the next best thing to sliced bread.
If you think it is bad, send complaint to Microsoft.
The same applies to search implemented in HTMLHelp
User guide that is installed on your computer.
4. Requiring "diagnostic ability of Visual C++ compiler" from AFL
is ridiculous because of the following
a) AFL is for traders, not for programmers, so it offers simple
syntax without type declarations, prototypes, templates, etc.
b) AFL is not C++ (has no type declaration for example and this
itself 'removes' type checking for example)
c) AFL is not general-purpose language, does not operate
directly with machine code, does not have direct access to physical memory, etc.,
so Visual C++ tools like CPU view, memory dump view, disassembly window
are useless.
d) AmiBroker is developed by 1 person, while Visual C++ is developed by thousands of people.
5. If you are "IBM programmer" - instead of bashing other's work like this,
go on code your own trading software that will be surely better and write great comprehensive manual
and everybody will be happy including me.
Best regards,
Tomasz Janeczko
amibroker.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry Scarborough" <razzbarry@xxxxxxxx>
To: <amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 5:05 PM
Subject: [amibroker] Re: Training and/or User Groups
We need a comprehensive manual with well documented and coded
examples with comments on each line, the more the better. And we
need a compiler that locates the error and tells us what is wrong.
Both of the current items fall short of what we need to write
effective code without pulling our hair out.
I do not agree with using weekly subjects with examples within the
context of the forum. Have you tried to locate articles on the forum
using search arguments? It is almost impossible to find a specific
topic and difficult at best to find what you are looking for. A
search returns many articles, then you have to browse through them
spending huge amounts of time and often coming away more frustrated
than when you began. Many of the example assume you already know how
to program within AB, bad assumption, and they are not commented
well at all. The more terse the example the more difficult they are
to follow. You can, and some often do, pack a lot of code on one
line and unless you understand the language and have a block comment
above the code telling you what is being done in human language, you
will not follow what is being done. Examples should not do this.
An online manual or a newer version in PDF that allows searches
would be good. How-to subjects with examples would be much better
than the manual we now have. The manual we now have often provides
links to examples on their website but they are not commented well
and many times are terse and very difficult for a newbie or even a
programmer to understand. Finding exactly what you are looking for
is very difficult. But that is what the forum is for. If the same
question is asked over and over then it is a candidate for an online
example withj comments. Examples should also have meaningful
variable names or good comments so they are easy to follow.
Another thing that would really be helpful is a compiler that placed
the cursor ON THE FAILING LINE with a good explanation of what the
failure is. I often, especially when I am using for or if
statements, I find an error at the end of the code with the cursor
on the last line of code and saying something like "Hey you screwed
up. He he. See if you can figure out where you made a mistake." Many
times I have had to comment out large blocks of code trying to find
out where the problem is. Then it is not always obvious what the
error is. A compiler that found all the errors, listed them at the
bottom with what the error definition is and allowing me to click on
that line and be taken to the error line would be much better, but
now we are talking about the diagnostic ability of a MS Visual C++
compiler. I double we will ever get that. But improvement could be
made.
A comprehensive manual is what we need. Allowing users to provide
comprehensive well document examples would be great too. Put them in
a library on the AB site, not in the forum.
All the seminars I have attended, I am an IBM programmer and have
attended tons of them, addressed general topics, unless they are
weeks long. Newbies need a general, low level seminar to get used to
the code. People who have a fairly good grasp of the language and
how to use it would require a more comprehensive seminar, actually a
programming class that lasts a week or more. But when you walk away
from a seminar you had better have a comprehensive manual because
you are not going to remember what you were taught in a month.
Typically you lose 80% to 90% of what you are taught in three months
unless you start using it right away and keep at it. If you go to a
seminar and try to use what you learned a year later, forget it. You
will be looking in the manual.
We also need a more comprehensive description of how to use the
Automatic Analysis tools, back tester especially. I have not figuree
out how to use them effectively yet and I have been coding in AB for
1.5 years. Once again, how do you set the settings? I still don't
know how to set them for a real world experience.
Barry
--- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, CM TOMSON <chic195a@xxxx> wrote:
>
> As a newbie I relate to requests for training. Attempting to sort
through 70 postings per day, in hopes of keeping abreast of what
problems lie ahead, and ways to head them off, coupled with
attempting to read a 600 page manual, is a challenge. I cringe when
an answer to a simple question is read the manual. I'm still in the
process of doing so, and it isn't that easy.
>
> I have seen many suggestions about going to Clearwater, but feel
beginners would still be at a disadvantage, as well being out
airfare, and hotel rates.
>
> The administrators and writers, and many participants are an
educated and sophisticated lot. My hats off to you, but even among
you, the crème of the crop, is patience tested. Novices always begin
sentences with the fact that they are new; it seems waiting for
their lack of knowledge to be challenged.
>
> I realize most of those involved in amibroker are strained to the
end. I also know that you're tired of hearing questions if the
manual already answers that. However, as great as that manual is,
perhaps there are lingering doubts that if I experiment, and do what
I think the manual suggests I may actually create another problem
that is not covered, or again ask the same sophisticated people,
another really stupid question on how to get out of this or that.
>
> Is it possible therefore to have a weekly subject with examples,
and step-by-step procedures, for a particular starter topic? The
tutorials are fantastic, and I don't mean that those instruments
need be done, but a simple step by step approach to a common
denominator may avoid thousands of future questions, and permit
those of us who are less knowledgeable a chance to catch up.
>
> The person who started this topic stated he was at this a year,
and still learning. This is a great program, and its expansion and
success, also lies in new people coming in. Will these new people be
willing to have patience for a year? If new people come in and the
program expands, and more and more questions asked, and you have
problems now, what happens then? Will postings go from 70 to 200
per day?
>
>
>
> Respectfully submitted
>
>
>
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>
> ---------------------------------
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