Is Transcript's English orientation a plus or minus?

[revolution at knowledgeworks.plus.com]

Frank wrote
>>
This isn't an either or proposition.  Adding support 
for "x = 1" would have no impact on the RR IDE. It would have no impact 
on your ability to use "put 1 into x" all you want.  It would have no 
impact on you, or anyone else using RR today.  But it would make my 
life easier.  And, I believe, it would make RR an easier sell into 
organizations staffed by professional programmers and 
computer-scientists.

Thanks for listening.
<<

Thanks for bringing up this idea.  Rev is one of the most enjoyable forms 
of programming I have done in 20 years, but I appreciate you bringing up 
these suggestions.  It has been an interesting discussion.

Whilst I (mostly) would not use the c-like syntax, if it can be added 
without causing confusion, then I think you are right that it would help 
to provide a familiar 'handle' to those used to the c-like languages.

If Rev is always aimed at being accessible to beginning programmers as a 
foundational principle, I think it is going to be regarded as 
un-professional by IT departments.

One thing I liked in a competing product I looked at a few years ago (I 
can't remember the name now) was that the menu of the IDE had an option 
for selecting the complexity of the view - something like 'simple', 
'detailed', 'advanced'.  As it started up in 'simple' mode, it was very 
easy to get an initial overview without being overwhelmed.  Once I had 
grasped the essence of what it could do, I could change the complexity of 
the IDE to increase my understanding - moving up the complexity levels 
revealed its power.  I think if Metacard had had this facility 5 years 
ago, I would have used it 4 years earlier :-)

Whenever one is learning a powerful and complex new environment, I think 
it is advantageous to be able to start it in 'simple mode', and let the 
user switch to the level that they feel comfortable with.  Professionals 
could start it up, select 'advanced' to see a complex environment.  Maybe 
the docs could also be sensitive to the complexity level and provide 
c-syntax. 

Just my 2pence

Bernard.