years (and years) ago, if I wanted to learn a new computer technology or language, I would pick up a book and learn it.
One language that didn't go how I expected it was applescript.
The book on applescript (from o'reilly I believe) was necessarily different.
Instead writing "normal" top-down programs, applescript hooks into the OS from the side.
Many books can concentrate on what you can do, but the applescript had to do everything by example. This is because all of apple's applications expose interfaces that you have to figure out on the fly.
I had to learn a different way from that book, because it necessarily concentrated on "how" instead of "what".
One language that didn't go how I expected it was applescript.
The book on applescript (from o'reilly I believe) was necessarily different.
Instead writing "normal" top-down programs, applescript hooks into the OS from the side.
Many books can concentrate on what you can do, but the applescript had to do everything by example. This is because all of apple's applications expose interfaces that you have to figure out on the fly.
I had to learn a different way from that book, because it necessarily concentrated on "how" instead of "what".