Dennis,
It's not as complicated as you suggest.
For elementary stuff there is in fact a single resource which is often
not used - Users Guide. As someone mentioned, much can be learned
by digesting the function list, array discussion, and operational procedures -
all in the Users Guide. What would people do if there was no Yahoo
list? Read the Users Guide. For examples there are two resources - UKB and Library. And,
of course, there is the "single" resource called
Support.
Newbies will use these resources if they don't get
the answers so easily on this list to every question that they run
into. The list should pick up after these resources have failed to
provide an answer, resulting in much more meaningful discussion and far less
bandwidth. Just my 2 pesos.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:43
PM
Subject: Re: [amibroker] Forum Re:
'Rule Based' versus 'Discretionary' trading...
Bill,
You are right in many aspects. However, I think newbies and the
rest of us too would be more willing to look for answers if we had a single
place to go to where we could search across the resources.
There will be a never ending source of newbies, so just saying to go to
this resource and then that resource, then another resource until you
discover that either the question has not been answered in the way that you
can understand it, or more likely you don't know the right
vocabulary and concepts to find what you are looking for. Then they
come to this list and ask after wasting several frustrating hours or days,
and if the answer is that you can't do such a thing anyway it really turns
one away from even trying next time! When I first started, I did not
know what to call things, so most of my searches failed.
I try to make sure that I have at least made some kind of effort myself
before asking on this list. As I have learned more, I come
to the list less often and with more difficult technical questions and
only occasionally get a satisfactory answer unless Tomasz answers.
I am amazed at how helpful people are to the extent that they
write out a complete solution from the first hint of a question.
Unfortunately that makes others dependent on the list for free coding
services instead of a resource to learn how to do it themselves. I try
to give the basic idea about how to solve the problem without coding it up
--as if I had time to do that for others while I am always struggling to
find enough time to do my own coding anyway.
It is encouraging to me to see newbies bring a chunk of AFL that they
wrote and ask why it will not do what they were trying to do. I shows
initiative and that means they will learn from the answer.
Sometimes it is appropriate to code an example for something out of the
ordinary --which becomes something to be referred to later.
I think it is appropriate for a newbie to ask basic questions on the
list like, can X be done in AFL and what do I search for to find out
how?
Then a pointer to the single search page with a nice keyword gets them
started on the right path. To paraphrase:
Give a person a fish and he will eat it and come back for another.
Teach a person to fish and he can feed himself.
From the developers point of view, this list is valuable in one sense
in that it provides a window into what are the stumbling blocks to
understanding AB/AFL. The common themes point to a need for some
additional ways of explaining, organizing, or presenting those problem areas
in a new way.
Best regards,
Dennis
On Aug 27, 2008, at 10:41 PM, wavemechanic wrote:
The problem, imo, is not the format but
rather that too many are willing to provide answers to elementary
questions over and over again instead of simply directing the person to
the Users Guide or UKB or past messages (use Yahoo search). The
individual is responsible for extracting the information needed from the
available documentation/messages and only resort to this forum when
they hit a wall. Instead, many of the new users use this forum in
lieu of doing their homework. If they were forced to find the
answers, I suspect the number of messages would drop by at least 50%
and more interesting discussions would take place.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 8:24
PM
Subject: Re: [amibroker] Re: 'Rule
Based' versus 'Discretionary' trading...
IMO, this is the main problem with our format. First thing I asked
on this forum was about Plot Shapes. Just couldn't wait to get started
or read anything. Since that time, I bet similar plot questions
have come around 100 times. It is very hard and time consuming to
search this list. If we had a forum/board format where all threads
relating to plot were in a certain section, I think it would help people
study more and get frustrated less. This has been discussed before and I
know most people want emails and don't want to browse a board, but there
is a lot of redundancy on this list.
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