Introductory learn to program text using Au3

[Jfish]

This forum (Au3 Technical) is inhabited by luminaries whose posts frequently demonstrate understanding far beyond my capabilities.  For that reason, and at Jon's suggestion, I am reaching out to tap into your wisdom for a project that I have been working on a for a while.  I was looking for a way to give back to AutoIt.  As a self-taught programmer I have learned an incredible amount from this forum and the help file.  It has been very rewarding.  Over the course of my personal experiences I have wished, at times, that even though the materials and support are truly incredible - that someone could explain some of the more basic concepts.  At the same time, I saw the creation of code.org and I started to think that AutoIt would be a perfect learning tool for people starting out (because of the simplicity, the incredible help file, and the best forum I have ever seen).  All of that led to the creation of this text: https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/files/file/351-learn-to-program-using-free-tools-with-autoit/.  It is the first draft of a basic introduction to programming using AutoIt.   Nobody has reviewed it.  Accordingly, I seek the collective constructive feedback of anyone willing to offer opinion as to content, spot any errors, and make any suggestions to improve it.  My goal was always to donate it to the AutoIt forum when it was done.  I think it could be a good addition to fill the gap for neophytes who may crave to see how everything fits together.   The last thought I will leave you with - similar to the first - is that I am not the world's greatest coder (this may be a case of those who can do and those who can't teach).  That said, I am hoping that the issues you will undoubtedly spot are not huge or threatening to the overall effort and that you appreciate the fact that this took some time to pull together.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

[JohnOne]

What exactly does the download contain?

[Jfish]

A PDF of the text "Learn To Program Using Free Tools With AutoIt".

[Jon]

Very cool.

[UEZ]

Well done. Thanks for your efforts which is really huge.

[TheSaint]

Great stuff. Kudos to you Jfish.

I once had illusions of myself being capable of starting such a thing. I hope you succeed, where I would have been undoubtedly a failure.

Will check out what you have done thus far.

Thank You!

[jaberwacky]

Seems written in a gentle yet persuasive manner.  Good read so far!  Have noticed a few minor typos:

Page 6:

1) "We will start of by studying core concepts and will demonstrate them in actual programs that you can build and run."  of to off

Page 7:

1) "And did I mention it was FREE."  Should that have a question mark?

2) "That vocabulary word is not terribly important at the moment other than to note that the there are other names for other types of numbers." that the there

3) "So what’s in a name you ask? What difference does it make what I call a number that I want to use?" Make it more literal otherwise it seems like you're asking the reader this question.

"So what's in a name?  What difference does it make what I call a number that I want to use," you ask?  Somehting like that.

Page 8

1) "Many languages will make you “declare” your datatype before you starting using it." Starting to start

2) "One of the nice things about AutoIt is that is a “looser” language." is that it is

Page 11

1) "Likewise, using <=18 to determine who is not eligible would lead to the false conclusion that someone who’s age is equal to 18 is not eligible." who's to whose

Page 12

1) "Many of them are intuitive because we have seen t hem before outside of programming." "t hem"

Edited July 23, 2015 by jaberwacky
my own typo

[Jfish]

@jaberwacky

Thanks!  I will collect all the feedback and take a pass through to make some corrections.  I appreciate your efforts!

[TheSaint]

I too have found a few things so far. All pretty minor, and I haven't read a lot yet ... have a slight headache tonight.

Chapter 16 Compiling: Making you programs into executables ............................................................... 142

Chapter 16 Compiling: Making youR programs into executables ............................................................... 142

Source code links (to progs in the book) ............................................................................................... 144

Be more professional to say programs rather than progs I reckon.

As long as you follow the forum rules and are courteous you will always get a super-fast response that guides you in the right direction.

As long as you follow the forum rules and are courteous you will NEARLY always get a super-fast response that guides you in the right direction.

As a testament to that there is a section in the forum that contains example applications and it is filled with many stunning entries that you can download, use, and even change to suit your own needs.

As a testament to that there is a section in the forum that contains example applications and it is filled with many stunning entries that you can download, use, and even OFTEN change to suit your own needs.

 

Apart from spelling error, all pretty minor, but more correct.

I am pretty amazed at how much you have done so far, and it reads pretty well so far.

Are you going to add a History element in at all?

 

[TheDcoder]

......Wish I had this book when I started programming in AutoIt... I don't have any words in my brain to say, I am still amazed by your book & I am not out of the shock yet. TD

[TheDcoder]

Just discovered a unfinished sentence, Prologue Section 3 (Pg no. 6) at the very bottom of the page: "... If you ever get stuck, you can visit the" & End of the page, not continued in the next page, Thanks! TD . Ooops, sorry, I was expecting "Help file" instead of "AutoIt Online forum"

Edited July 23, 2015 by TheDcoder

[Jfish]

 @TheSaint

Be more professional to say programs rather than progs I reckon.

Very true.  Funny, that is a placeholder for an actual link to the source examples which I have not done yet.  I will need to make sure I have them all in a nice organized way and post them as a separate file.  I will also take into account all your other comments.  Thank you!

@TheDcoder

Thanks, I will look at the typo you found.  I am glad you like the idea of the book.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Jfish

[mLipok]

Thank for sharing.
I will read this in my spare time.

But now please add here:

 

a reference to this thread.

Cheers,
mLipok

 

[guinness]

I am only curious, but the examples and help file screenshots are from v3.3.8.1. Is there a reason for this?

Also this is wrong...

MsgBox("", ..., ...) ; Should ideally be an integer/messagebox constant

PS I can see it's a lot of work, so for that I say thank you. I have many suggestions/changes, but feel it's out of scope of what the PDF is for.

Edited July 23, 2015 by guinness

[mLipok]

Few proposals:

• Add a quick description how to use forum.
• Add a quick description about why and how to use Wiki

EDIT:

Such editorial amendments: Is each chapter can start on a new page?

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by mLipok

[Jfish]

I am only curious, but the examples and help file screenshots are from v3.3.8.1. Is there a reason for this?

Also this is wrong...

MsgBox("", ..., ...) ; Should ideally be an integer/messagebox constant

PS I can see it's a lot of work, so for that I say thank you. I have many suggestions/changes, but feel it's out of scope of what the PDF is for.

@Guinness

Yes, the reason for v3.3.8.1 is that I started writing this a while ago and have been picking at it here and there.  Any comments you have are most welcome.  I am always trying to learn and have found some of your past suggestions very helpful. 

@mLipok there is a section at the end about the forum - it is not incredibly detailed.  Are you suggesting more technical instructions like how to use the editor?  I agree on with new chapters at the start of the page.  That can get hairy with a lot of edits so I will attempt that after the edits stabilize a bit so I don't have to do it each time.

[TheDcoder]

Wow, 3 years of hard work! you deserve a gold medal!

[guinness]

Understood @Jfish

[mLipok]

@mLipok there is a section at the end about the forum - it is not incredibly detailed.  Are you suggesting more technical instructions like how to use the editor?  I agree on with new chapters at the start of the page.  That can get hairy with a lot of edits so I will attempt that after the edits stabilize a bit so I don't have to do it each time.

Yes I saw this chapter but it is talking only about Forum rules  (at least at first look).

I suggest to make It as a chater "AutoIt Forum" and make few "sub chater" starting from Rules , Netiquete, Groups description, Finding posts, posting code, Just small statement with small screenshots/images , and url links.

As a concept you can look here: https://www.autoitscript.com/wiki/Forum_FAQ

Or just small statement and refrence (url links) to all mentioned information.

 

[mLipok]

@Jfish how technically you are create this PDF ?

Which program / tool you are using ?

EDIT:
If you are interested I can add few description to it. I be glad to contribute to this project.
Unfortunately, after my holidays (per week, I'm leaving with my family for two weeks over the sea)

Edited July 23, 2015 by mLipok