Why are homepage examples too complicated?

[Benjiro via Digitalmars-d]

On Tuesday, 18 October 2016 at 20:51:24 UTC, Karabuta wrote:
>
> They will not understand. Those are the UX stuff you learn when 
> you are a web designer/developer.

True. Anybody can make a website. A website that is efficient, 
takes time. A stupid travel booking website took over a year with 
constant meeting to design around here. The result is a efficient 
design but it takes time.

> It is easy to not understand the impact when your already know 
> D. Test it on a new user and see. Moreover, unless D is not 
> meant to be a first programming language to learn, then we are 
> far from gaining new adopters with the current information.

Its the same issue with other languages. Go has the advantage of 
being a big brand name thanks to Google and that is a big part of 
its success. When looking at Nim or other languages, you always 
see the issue of elitist thinking ( its not a insult ). People 
who are so used to the language, that they do not understand how 
some of there code example are too complex for beginners.

I ended ordering Ali's book "Programming in D" yesterday because 
after seeing his Youtube Dcon2016 video, he knows how to explain 
topics to users. His multi thread youtube video was very 
informative yet, relative to the topic simple to understand. And 
his book reviews reflect this also.

No offense to Andrei, while his is funny, he is simply thinking 
above my head. Walter is actually better at explain things.

I have no problem admitting that my skills are horrible after 
being stuck for the last 15 years in PHP ( and perl a few years 
). It also means that when something is above my head, i 
instantly notice that.

> The tour examples are clearly written by people who have 
> less/limited/lacking teaching skills.

The Learn / Tour is not bad. Far from it. Its just too technical.

Having dealt with a series of alternative languages, the dlang 
website is well designed and more user friendly then a lot like 
nim, crystal ...


But the dlang site is too much designed around people who already 
have a C/C++ interest. Those same type of people that you will 
NOT easily convert to D because they already have powerful tools 
available. There are a few reviews about D online, that state the 
same issue. D is more powerful then C++ but converting people 
from that mature ecosystem, even with C++ its flaws, is difficult.

> How do you win a visitor's interest in 2-5 seconds?

By using simple to the point communication.

= First time programmers:

* A simple example. Lets say a bit more advanced then "Hello 
World" but not so advanced that we trow template at there face.

= Somebody with a PHP/Scripting background ( big potential group 
):

* A http server example ( vibe.d? ). With some benchmarks where 
it beats PHP/Apache ( people are stat whores *lol* ).

Etc ...

Its the same reason why the home page needs a multi-tab example 
sheet.

People see first example, its interesting but they want to see 
more. They click on tab 2, tab 3, ... going down the examples. 
Each showing more & more the power of D.

Or even better, the tabs rotate every x seconds if you are not 
holding your mouse over them.

Going full C++ hog on the first example, simply limits your 
market potential. If a C++ programmer comes here, there is less 
change that he is pushed away from a first simple language 
example, then the reverse. Where a non-advanced programmer comes 
here and is confronted with a more advanced example.

The fact that D supports a lot of templates is besides the point. 
Showing this is something in maybe the 3 or 4th example. You 
always first start with the basics.

----------

... Same reason why i mention a example page, where you can see a 
multitude of techniques in one go. Something to "Wet the beak" of 
people who first get introduced to the website.

----------

Another issue i noticed is the twitter channel. Too much Asian 
language posts. Its pushing away information for all the rest who 
do not speak Mandarin/Japanese? It simply does not present 
cleanly. There needs to be some moderating going on there.


Like i said, this is all from my perspective as a D newbie. And i 
am not afraid to say that i am a D newbie :)