"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
>
> I _STILL_ look at descriptions of functions and macros and say to myself, "Oh,
> no.... HOW do I actually USE that?  What do I DO with it?   Where in the code
> does it GO?  Is it a standalone line?  Is it transformation on my object?
> Is it a value that use to do something else...?
> And that can waste 10 minutes until I wrap my head around the underlying
> theory of operation.
>

That's EXACTLY my problem as well. Except that I usually cannot figure out what
a particular feature means, and simpy move on in frustration-- never making an
attempt to use it, and not learning anything.

There are indeed many features that could be MUCH-better explained, with more
'humanly-readable' descriptions. I like *clarity*. If I had my way, something
like the Point_At_Trans macro would instead be

#macro This_Points_Your_Vector_Direction_In_Another_Direction_But_Watch_Out_For
Problems_So_Add_The_Bald_Eagle_Solution(...)"

:-P


I think the present state of POV-ray-- the difficulty of understanding how to
use certain features-- is partly a result of years /decades of a certain 'elite
attitude' among some users, and a few developers as well (Clipka being the major
exception IMO), that the program is meant for a particular intellectually
superior audience-- and that those of us who aspire to learn it should not be
'spoon fed' with helpful comments if we are perceived to be below a certain
level of ability. It went something like this: "Why don't you understand what
you're asking? Read the f**king manual. If you don't understand it, you don't
belong here, so get out." I exaggerate, but only a little. I think we have all
seen this kind of response-- an attitude that has certainly not helped to expand
POV-ray's user base! Personally, I've had to develop a thick skin over the
years, to put up with that kind of unhelpful garbage; luckily, I persevered. But
I amagine that others have simply given up and moved elsewhere. Of course, we
would not be using the program at all if we didn't have a desire to learn
programming in some way, and to 'build things from the ground up'; so it does
take *some* level of knowledge and interest to grasp the essentials.  But the
unhelpful attitudes have made it much harder than it should have been. And IMO,
there are many parts of the documentation that reflect this unnecessary
'anti-spoon-feeding' attitude. Perhaps POV-ray *was* initially developed only
for astute computer programmers, all those years ago; but those times have
changed. Now even kids are learning to program!

POV-ray is such a great platform for creating almost anything visual. With some
improvements to the documentation, and better example scenes, it would probably
pick up many more users going forward.

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