Mimir:Draft2 Notes


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=Revision History= This is where the road map for the book project and summaries of other programming books go. Also migrate chapter ToDos here as well

Here are some suggestions from Professor Jonas about the current state of Mimir and what he would like us to change:


 * lexical analyzer chapter should have more narrative and less code and we need to do more research about what the analyzer actually does
 * we need to create an Appendix for all the code and move the code from chapters to the Appendix and just reference it in the chapter
 * visual languages chapter currently only talks about Scratch so we need to add more content about other visual programming languages
 * the Notes section of the book should have our vision for where our book should be headed and how it should grow and develop (road map)
 * all chapters should have more conceptual material about the topic
 * all chapters should talk about more than just one programming language
 * all existing pictures should be checked for theme consistency (screenshots from the same OS, similar size and style)
 * last but not least we should familiarize ourselves with the programming books we were given to try to apply our experience of what a formal programming languages text book looks like towards Mimir

=Road map for future drafts=

After discussing our progress with Professor Jonas we came to the following realizations and conclusions:

1. Future drafts should probably concentrate on one chapter only. They should dedicate the entire semester to studying the topic in depth and make one chapter complete. The chapter should cover material from a high level perspective and consider it conceptually. For example if the chapter talks about a certain paradigm it should cover at least several languages but not it make them the focus of the chapter but rather the examples in the narrative about the paradigm. 2. All the code should be placed in an Appendix in the end of the book. We think that small code snippets can stay in the chapter but anything longer that 5-7 lines should be moved to Appendix in order not to detract attention from the narrative and disrupt it's flow.

3. One of them main aspects in which the current iteration of the Wiki book is lacking is a consistent and concise narrative and theme. Right now the material has very little structure and is basically a collection of information and articles. What we have seen in other programming books is a distinct approach to discussing the topics. Every chapter has a flow and a theme which remains uniform and recognizable throughout the book. Granted that other books were authored or at least edited by one author, but our wiki book should strive for that kind of readability and consistency.

=TODO= This is simply a place to list TODOs that apply to the whole book.

Each chapter should have its own TODO sections as well. Do not put chapter TODOs in here.

Current TODOs

 * Streamline outline for chapters 7 & 8
 * Edit Copyright owner (currently UNH)
 * Edit Authors - not all students listed
 * What are we dedicating this to?
 * Fill out this TODO page