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Hello Howard,
Anything you write will be a welcome and valuable contribution.
Basically a book tells a story, even when it is a technical manual.
The important thing is for you to follow your instincts and tell your
AmiBroker/trading story, then all will be well and you will be a
happy guy as well.
Keep in mind that not every artistic production receives the same
level of public acclaim. As long as we (the artists or authors) are
creatively satisfied that is all that counts.
No need to worry about the depth and the width.
Others are also 'writing' so between us we will cover a lot.
We can't do 'War & Peace' in one volume.
Cut your slice of the pie and savour it.
No need to worry about the pace of development.
New stuff is fun and keeping up is part of the deal.
We would soon be bored if there was nothing left in the World that we
don't know anything about. The unknown future is an exciting part of
life.
A few thoughts to scope the *authorship* topic:
The new *user knowledge base* (UKB) is coming along.
I believe it is going to answer a lot of training questions in the
future.
As it is *written* for electronic media distribution it does some
things that hard copy books can't, and vice versa, so overall there
will be a good mix of styles and media, with your books at one end
and the knowledge base at the other.
So far there are only 3-4 of us writing and we are mainly debugging
the system and putting up some demos.
The beauty of the UKB is that it accommodates different styles and
tastes. So far I am writing *new user, help manual* type stuff iin
one style (tutorials with visual cues) while Herman and Al are
specialising in Auto Trading and presenting it more like an ebook.
To put you in the picture, some examples of what I have put up so far:
2 * one page posts, with sceenshots, of how to use the color-picker
and set custom colors,
1 one page post, with screenshots, on how to find out how many
trading days there are in a calendar year for any market (using AFL),
3 * half page posts,with screenshots, on how to subscribe to RSS
feeds for the UKB,
2 * 20-30 page downloadable HTML/Word docs, with over 40 screenshots
and with attached .afl files, on how to perform basic database
management tasks (the first two in a series of approx 5 - assuming
all goes well). (Note that it is 95% help manual type material, that
others can post to the same topic to add advanced material, that
users can make suggestions/correct my efforts and I have unlimited
screenshots/editing revisions etc up my sleeve).
I am keeping one eye on what other authors/Tomasz are doing and I try
to fill in the gaps.
This demonstrates some of the good points, of having the UKB in an E-
media format: posts/documents etc can be easily revised over time,
files can be shared e.g. .afl files, topics can be co-authored and
joint venture projects can be run.
My thoughts on the state of training at present (personal opinions
only):
- the help manual is par for the course,or better, and it is Tomasz's
thing (that alone, along with the forums, probably soaks up his
training fervour),
- authors can supplement the help manual via posts to the UKB (as I
am doing) - help manual material is clearly based on *how to use the
program* (what do you see when you look at the screens and which
buttons do you push and when).
- authors can post/write an ebook, for the UKB, or use other media
(books, video, audio) to publish in their area of speciality,
- there is a need for a book on *AFL for Dummies* or beyond,
- there is plenty of room for authors to write on applications of
AmiBroker, whether that is *trading applications* or advanced *how to
use AB* it doesn't really matter, as the two subject areas start to
blend together after the basic - intermediate levels.
It also doesn't matter whether it is a book, an ebook, a post or an
article or if it is free or for sale. It all helps, provided it is of
a reasonable quality.
It doesn't matter if it is basic, intermediate or advanced, or
alternatively, if it is a specialist publication that walks through
all levels on one single topic. There are plenty of gaps in all areas.
It also doesn't matter if we (the authors) overlap or become
repetitive on some topics, repetition is an important part of
learning.
It also helps to see the same subject through different eyes.
Cheers,
Brian.
--- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Howard Bandy" <howardbandy@xxx>
wrote:
>
> Hi Angelo --
>
> Thanks for the encouragement for my new book -- Introduction to
> AmiBroker. I have started a new thread to get away from the
> "difficulty of AFL" thread.
>
> You all know my feelings -- AmiBroker is clearly the best choice
for a
> trading systems development platform. My book is intended to make
it
> as easy as possible for as many people as possible to become
competent
> users of AmiBroker.
>
> There is always a conflict between accessibility and completeness.
> Introduction to AmiBroker is intended to be useful to people who
have
> absolutely no experience with AmiBroker, and perhaps little
experience
> with any programming language and little experience with trading
> systems or even charting.
>
> Should a book present the basics in enough detail so that everyone
can
> get started and use the most common features of AmiBroker? Or
should
> it present all of the features of AmiBroker, even though that will
> make the book longer, heavier, more expensive, more overwhelming to
a
> new user, and very likely to slip out-of-date quickly?
>
> I am leaning toward the former -- a book that presents the basics in
> enough detail to get everyone started and reasonably proficient. My
> thoughts are that AmiBroker is having its set of features expanded
> regularly, and that no printed text can stay current and explain
> everything, including screen captures and examples. Covering the
> basics in detail is more valuable to new users than covering topics
> such as Custom BackTester and creation of dlls in an introductory
book.
>
> I believe that there is a place for, and there may be a market for,
a
> book describing the advanced features of AmiBroker. But I am
thinking
> that is a separate book. Those of you who have read Quantitative
> Trading Systems will note that I have focused on the development and
> testing of trading systems, but used many of the advanced features
of
> AmiBroker to illustrate. I believe that advanced features are best
> described in the context of specific examples such as these.
>
> Most of the people reading these posts are already well into
> AmiBroker, so your comments are from a group that has already had a
> mostly successful experience. But I would appreciate constructive
> suggestions from anyone who has thoughts and opinions about this.
>
> The writing of Introduction to AmiBroker is well under way. I
expect
> to have copies available early 2008.
>
> Thanks,
> Howard
> www.quantitativetradingsystems.com
> www.blueowlpress.com
>
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