Johannes Hubert wrote:

> And the "non-programmers" would get a language for which the manual
> would actually be *thinner* than it is now, a language that is more
> approachable and easier to learn (because frankly I think, that many of
> you here who advocate POV-Script as an easy language to learn have lost
> perspective a bit, since you alreay *know* POV-Script: sure, newbies
> *can* learn POV-Script, but the language is far from being easy to learn
> and could be much more so in my opinion).

It's obvious that there's a general consensus about the fact that the pov
syntax,
having evolved from a simple scene description language to a "programming"
language has now problems of its own. And you're right, it was never easy to

learn, and I know of people who downloaded pov and were scared right away.
However, I think that the original construct "primitive transform texture",
written in such a way, is very intuitive. I know of teachers who use it at
school
to teach maths to kids. I guess it's intuitive because it's close to actual
language :
"the sphere is big and blue".

My own ventures in OO programming and other advanced programming indicate
that, though there's no discussion on the necessity of it when it comes to
programming efficiency, it also requires a *much higher* level of abstract
thinking.
This may be natural to full-time programmers, but for many people
(including me) these ways of thinking are extraordinary hard, if not
impossible, to grasp. Many of the concepts discussed in this thread
(or in the programmers' wish lists) are simply out of my intellectual reach.

I don't remember having much trouble learning Basic or Fortran,
or the pov language : none of them was simple, mostly because of the
keywords to learn and remember, but nothing seemed outlandish.
But, after many years, I *still* have difficulty using something as simple
as MS Access Basic and I'm *still* confusing methods with properties,
for instance. Possibly, somebody with absolutely no programming background
would have no trouble at all, (because of the absence of old programming
habits) but frankly I doubt it.

So, yes, as you  say, a middleground should be found, and it should take
into account the fact that a pov user (according to my own conception
of pov of course) shouldn't have a PhD, or at least be a professional
programmer, to use it.

G.

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