dtutor.org: a call to action

[Nathan M. Swan]

On Sunday, 5 May 2013 at 22:06:17 UTC, Nathan M. Swan wrote:
> On Sunday, 5 May 2013 at 19:37:02 UTC, Tyro[17] wrote:
>> The main contributors of D are doing a wonderful job of 
>> enhancing the
>> language. I can confidently say that we are leagues ahead of 
>> where we
>> stood a just two years ago. But there has been a long cry for
>> documentation that has gone unanswered: not because they 
>> refuse to
>> cooperate but rather, because they are a small volunteer 
>> force, occupied
>> by real demands to address the quirks of the language, and 
>> lack the time
>> to all issues by themselves.
>
> Don't we all :(
>
>>
>> It stands then that the community can make a conscious effort 
>> to address
>> some of the outstanding issues. As such, I have chosen to 
>> champion the
>> tutorial/documentation effort. Though, I possess very little 
>> programming
>> experience but am willing to try and am hereby soliciting your
>> assistance in making this a reality.
>
> Good luck!
>
>>
>> dtutor.org is an active domain dedicated to providing 
>> tutorials for the
>> language. I will require content contributors but before we 
>> can begin to
>> provide content there are a couple of issues to address:
>>
>> I. Features to be supported
>>
>>    Interactive Tutorials - Users must be able to modify and 
>> execute
>> examples in place to observe side effects.
>
> You have DPaste to work with here (http://dpaste.dzfl.pl/), 
> IIRC it is connected to sample code at dlang.org.
>
>>
>>    Interactive Books - A number of free books exist around the 
>> internet
>> that can be ported to D. The first two that come to mind are 
>> How to
>> "Think Like a Computer Scientist", "Problem Solving with 
>> Algorithms and
>> Data Structures Using Python" and Ali Çehreli's very own 
>> "Programming in D".
>
> Videos are useful as well.
>
>>
>>    Problems - Staged ICPC problems for users to attempt. 
>> Solutions may
>> be submitted online for comparison against previously submitted
>> solutions to determine efficiency ranking and users may choose 
>> to create
>> and account to keep track of progress.
>>
>>    Online Judge - to be used to determine accuracy and 
>> efficiency of
>> submitted solutions to problems and planned programming 
>> contests.
>
> I've had good experiences learning via stuff like that.
>
>>
>>    Forum - Unlocked to individual users per problem after 
>> solution
>> accepted by Online Judge.
>
> Rejected Software (creators of vibe) has vibenews, which I 
> believe is quite customizable.
>
>>
>> II. Look and Feel
>>
>> Look and feel of the site will be largely influenced by two 
>> things: The
>> DConf website and this little gem which provides encouragement 
>> for the
>> ideas behind interactive tutorials/books:
>>
>> 	Runestone (https://github.com/bnmnetp/runestone);
>>
>> I came across it while searching for ideas on how to get 
>> started with
>> dtutor.org and must admit: it is a fascinating little project.
>>
>
> It is!
>
> I have to vouch for cplusplus.com, which isn't interactive, but 
> I was able to teach myself C++ with only that and "C++ for 
> Dummies," so it worked for one guy.
>
>> I am wondering if there are any Python experts (or experts in 
>> general)
>> out there willing to assist in porting it to D? It comes with 
>> built in
>> support for Python and C/C++ among other languages. However, 
>> because
>> dtutor.org aims to promote all things D, it would aid greatly 
>> to have a
>> D implementation which removes all external dependencies and 
>> support
>> vice implementing D support for the original project. By doing 
>> this we
>> can showcase the strengths of DMDScript, vibe and other 
>> technology
>> already available in D.
>>
>> Logo: My idea for the logo is simply this (see attachment):
>>
>> 	D!(tutor).org
>
> If your target audience is people who know little about D, this 
> would just look odd.
>
>>
>> As Andrei would say: destroy!
>>
>> III. Constraints
>>
>> DMDScript for web scripting
>> Vibe for hosting (diet templates)
>> MangoDB for database
>>
>> IV. Timeline
>>
>> The hope is for complete functionality by DConf 2014.
>> Shooting for Initial Launch by September.
>>
>> Calling all website designers, database developers, authors 
>> and D
>> enthusiast. Lend a hand in eliminating this problem.
>
> Like everyone, my time is limited, but I can help a bit. Sign 
> me up!
>
>>
>> Andrew
>
> NMS

I forgot, do you have a github repo up?

NMS