Revolution Book

[matty47]

Hi,
new to Revolution although have looked at it several times over the last 5 years. Anyway finally took the plunge, purchased and am trying to learn. Can you tell me if the book (ebook - Software at the Speed of Thought) by Shafer is still relevant to the current version and a good learning aid or do I just continue to look over the tutorials?
Thanks for your help
Matthew

[bn]

Hi Matty,

wellcome to the forum.

I did buy Shafers book when I started with Revolution. I learned a great deal from it and I still think if you like a single source for Revolution then I would buy it again. (And I should have followed his advices more closely as I discovered later, e.g. menubuilding on the mac). Obviously it does not cover the new things introduced later into Revolution. But the stumbling blocks are the basic ideas behind Rev. And that is very well explained in Shafer's book. The new features are easy to understand once you get into revtalk.
And by all means keep on looking at the tutorials. They are a very good source to work your way into Revolution.

regards
Bernd

[Philhold]

I recently bought Shafer's book (last night) and after reading 3 chapters I can say that already the penny is falling into the right slot.

I have found that the main problem I have is unlearning how I work in other scripting languages (perl). I think about text files not stacks, cards and objects. Getting my head around how applications are organised into building blocks called stacks, cards and objects, that each can have scripts attached to them and data stored within their custom properties etc is a bit baffling at first.

If you are coming from Filemaker, my other main RAD platform, things are baffling for other reasons. Again you need to forget how you worked in Filemaker and learn how to work in RunRev.

What my initial reading of Shafer's book has taught me is to not try to start where I am in Perl and Filemaker and expect to be up to the same speed in RunRev. Rather I need to start from the basics and once I get up the learning curve a bit then apply what I already know.

If the book gets you started on the right route $30 is very little to pay.

Just my 2c

Cheers

Phil

PS There's a sample chapter her. The links to revolutionpros.com go to a parked domain though. http://www.altuit.com/webs/dshafer/TheB ... 1FINAL.pdf

[Garrett]

I haven't even seen this book/ebook yet myself. I've been using Rev for ummm..... Damn! Ummmmm... let's just say 4 years for the sake of this post because I honestly can't remember at this moment. To this day, I fail to use many of the benefits that Rev has to offer.

One of the biggest points in rev is Stacks and Cards. Something to which I fail to take advantage of, specifically Cards. I continue to revert to my older programming habits of using only a single stack, hiding and showing all the gui elements when needed instead of using cards for each instance.

I'm pretty sure that the book/ebook in question along with the tutorials found with Rev itself and many other tutorials out there will guide someone down a proper path for using Rev to it's fullest, unlike myself who didn't really go through the tutorials and doesn't use Rev to it's full potential because I'm still using concepts learned from using other programming languages.

So whether you're a new programmer or an aged antiquated one, anything that helps you down the right path with the tool(s) you are using is the right thing to do. Likely, if I can remember, I should get this book also and maybe straighten out my personal relationship with Rev so that maybe I could become more productive with Rev and take advantage of more of Rev than I have been over the years.

I have got to stop thinking in terms of line for line Basic programming languages and scripting languages while using Rev...

[Mark]

Hi,

Don't forget that people had paid for 3 books and only one was published. In the mean time, Shafer left the Revolution scene and is a "religious teacher" now. If you buy the book expecting to see part II and III released anytime soon, you'll face an unpleasant surprise. If you are buying a second-hand copy of the book just because it appears useful to you, then you might have good value for money.

Best,

Mark

[matty47]

Thanks all for the frank responses.

[MotherHoose]

Wow...an old book! Interesting 1st chapter!

Here are 2 semesters of college courses in Revolution:
All free...except you have to correct your own work!

Syllabus / Lectures/ Assigments/ Excercise/ Exams

http://revolution.byu.edu/


& the course support materials:

http://chum210.byu.edu/Templates/


Thanks to Devin Asay & Brigham Young University.

[greggarcia]

I gentleman, i has been reading a lot of post and follow Rev several months to be sure is the right platform but i still have the doubt between Rev Studio or Rev Enterprise i would like buy a tool to develop code to create a software that fit the customer need it, like create a CRM of course working in LAN and database, or a software for a restaurant or a software to control the invoices or inventory control, you know this kind of commercial program that can interact with microsoft office. What is you recommendation according with you experience. I know that in short term buying Studio is less investment but i need to be sure if is the right choice for that i am looking for.

Thanks a lot.
Greg

[malte]

Hi Greg,

if you need secure connections (SSL), connect to Oracle databases or want to develop (not deploy to, studio can do that) on all supported platforms, go with enterprise. Otherwise studio should work fine.

Hth,

Malte

[greggarcia]

Thanks Malte, for now i do not need Oracle databases maybe, postgresql, access, SQL, sqlite like this database, i thinks i got the idea, enterprise is more secure in case the data is under a network. My idea is develop a program with their respective password in order to prevent piracy, develop software that can sell since 1,000 usd to up. More for the small enterprise or medium enterprise. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent weekend
Greg.