Re: How users start programming in Emacs Lisp...

[Arthur Miller]

Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com> writes:

>> Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2021 at 11:43 PM
>> From: "Arthur Miller" <arthur.miller@live.com>
>> To: "Eduardo Ochs" <eduardoochs@gmail.com>
>> Cc: "Christopher Dimech" <dimech@gmx.com>, "help-gnu-emacs" 
>> <help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>, "Jean Louis" <bugs@gnu.support>
>> Subject: Re: How users start programming in Emacs Lisp...
>>
>> Eduardo Ochs <eduardoochs@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>> > On Sat, 29 May 2021 at 23:12, Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2021 at 10:37 AM
>> >> > From: "Jean Louis" <bugs@gnu.support>
>> >> > To: "Christopher Dimech" <dimech@gmx.com>
>> >> > Cc: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
>> >> > Subject: How users start programming in Emacs Lisp...
>> >> >
>> >> > (...)
>> >> >
>> >> > *scratch* buffer is famous for it.
>> >> >
>> >> > I just need more of them but *scratch*, so I do it this way:
>> >
>> >
>> > Hi, just a curiosity...
>> >
>> > why do you prefer to use scratch buffers for elisp code instead of
>> > using (semi-scratch?) files in which we record all our experiments?
>> >
>> > In the tutorials of eev I try to convince the new users to treat their
>> > notes and scratch code as "field notes", and save everything they
>> > can... one of my arguments is this:
>> >
>> >   Learning eev is also like learning to use paper notebooks. It is
>> >   much easier to understand the notes and ideas what we wrote
>> >   ourselves in our notebooks than to understand what other people
>> >   wrote in their notebooks... when we go back to what _we_ wrote we
>> >   are able to reconnect with what we were thinking, even when our
>> >   notes are quite terse because we did not write down all details -
>> >   and we can't do that with other people's notes.
>>
>> I think you are probably correct about saving notes. Some vary famious
>> scientists attribute almost everything to their notes.
>
> That is correct.  Darwin and Fermi have done the same.  But Stephen King
> is famous for saying that notes are the best way to immortalise bad ideas.

How could we know good ideas if it wasn't for bad ones?

King is probably correct, but 90% or more ideas people get are probably
bad, it is just that we remember the good ones (mostly :)). Also, some
good ideas probably started as bad ideas. Socrates thought that writing
is a bad idea. He never wrote a single note. :-( 

> Really good ideas stick around.  Today, I get to agree with King in respect
> to the experience with Fermi.  But the same cannot be said about Darmin
> during his trips.
>
> Thusly, in point of fact, there are no good rules, but just what works for 
> you.

That seems like a rule you are stating there? :)