[Catalyst] Re: Last Chance / Last Day:Webdevelopmentplatformcontestand Perl / Catalyst

[Octavian Rasnita]

>
> (and what would people say to re-doing the tutorial to add back in a 
> couple chapters that -don't- use DBIC at the beginning, and then  perhaps 
> an additional one at the end that uses another model (SVN or  LDAP spring 
> to mind) ?)
> -- 
> Matt S Trout, Technical Director, Shadowcat Systems Ltd.

I think the best approach would be to make a tutorial for the beginners in 
Catalyst.
For letting the beginners learn Catalyst easier, the focus should be only on 
Catalyst, and no other modules, because even if they know how to use 
DBIx::Class or other modules, the use of those libraries will just distract 
their attention.

Then the next step, the next example, should be a sample program that 
introduce another module, for example a module that parses configuration 
files, then the next sample program should introduce more and more advanced 
modules, like some modules that can allow i18n, that can allow using of 
UTF-8, then a program that accesses a simple database without an ORM, then 
the same example when using an ORM, and so on, starting from the most simple 
external modules, to the more complex ones.

Many times a programmer starts learning a programming language when he sees 
that there is a tool that could be very easily understood, that could help 
him to do what he wants, so a new Catalyst programmer could also be somebody 
that now doesn't even know perl.
So I think that tutorial should not start from the idea that the beginners 
know everything, and that they should just learn some Catalyst subroutines, 
and the order in which they are called, and a few other things, and that's 
all.

The tutorial should start thinking that the beginners don't know anything, 
and finish with examples that should show everything that Catalyst could do.
That way will surely satisfy everybody.

Teddy