OpenFL tutorials

#21

Jeepers creepers,… YES, all of your’s hearts are in the right place! Help the devs. I know they are busy too. But I have a few suggestions intended to smooth everything in the right direction:

  1. there’s an old saying " a camel was a horse designed by comittee" so you guys need to be careful of what the outcome might be. You want to start with “dummies” and “smarten” them. Much of what I’ve read so far is incoherent to me (a Haxe/OpenFL dummy). I would suggest that the most common platform is Windows desktop PC, It also looks like FlashDevelop is the most preferred tool (at least for a newbie). And so write tutorial for only those. Then if it is significant add a “gray box” in the tutorial “For those of you on Linux, do this…, for OSX do this…,Android, do this…” But at least the main path would be consistent that way.

  2. The other saying is “plan from the top and code from the bottom” and I think that makes sense for tutorials. It would be most coherent if you experts got together and resolved a sequnce and came up with an outline of the complete tutorial path from dummy to smart_enough. You guys need to agree on that before anyone starts writing. Then you can post that outline, comment on it for a few days and start volunteering to do certain sections. But don’t write beyond ‘Lesson-1’ until lesson-1 is posted, because your assumptions and writing style need to be consistent. If lesson-1 does IJK then don’t write Lesson-2 assuming the dummy understands EFG or such. That will be difficult if everyone write their Lesson simultaneously. For example, when I downloaded all the Haxe et.al. stuff the other day some stuff said use this command line or that. Some said use Lime commands, and some said …‘in FlashDev do such and such’… That’s what I mean by incoherent.

  3. This is more than an issue of can you teach a dummy like me. It is about the future of Haxe et.al. Over the years I’ve seen both good and bad come and go and I believe Haxe is a good guy and deserves to flourish and not be relegated to some obscure gamer coders for a year or few. Getting newbies, dummies, like me (at least as far as Haxe is concerned), to start using it will ultimately help it to flourish!

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#22

I can’t read French but I suppose that that open source book is only for desktop Flash output, which would be ideal for ideal for beginner programmers, but if you already know some Actionscript/Starling (I am learning it on my own since I took a couple of intermediate java classes a few years ago, that was all), then the free ebook that I suggest above (OReilly ebook Introducing Starling) would be good for multiplatform mobile output too. Besides, this book is much shorter (only 120 pages) and it is already in English. And I am not suggesting to violate any copyrighted content, but just trying to achieve the same functionality/task of each section of the book using OpenFL. Tha table of contents of this book is perfect I think.

#23

Hey guys,

I have a lot of ideas, but I’ve taken the initiative to change “Documentation” in the header to “Learning”, which includes documentation links, as well as tutorial links and a reference back to the friendly forums here :wink:

I think there’s a lot more we can do in this area, but this is a start :slight_smile:

#24

Hi,

i’m not sure a book, is really suitable for a platform as OpenFL. Is too static for a framework that moves so fast and has so many changes in it’s API and in the platforms supported and features. What is the most common questions we have here in the forums? questions about functionality that doesn’t work on certain platform, or no documented features or maybe tips or problems with extensions that happen on certain platforms, that is the really valuable info that should be easily found, and that is sometimes getting people stuck for days looking for a solution that maybe someone else already found. i could easily name 2-3 things i learned from experimenting in android, ios and html5 that is not documented anywhere and could help to unstuck someone.

For really beginners that doesn’t have even AS3 experience, the tutorials of syntax in haxe website should be enough for them to start.

And i agree that the most veterans in the platforms doesn’t have time to write a book, but i’m gonna that insist that with a wiki we could easily write a couple of lines of text and code to explain a problem we just faced and solved to share it with the community.

#25

I’m learning Haxe and OpenFl since a week (never played with Flash/AS before, but lot of other languages, including ECMAScript) and I am thrilled about the possibilities.

At the same time it’s very difficult to find resource, tutorials, documentation to really understand what is going on, the foundations and sometimes just the way to do something (maybe a good practice of doing something instead of a random way found on some hidden blog).

I usually find myself looking on google for “topic openfl” (try to avoid opengl google suggestions), so jump to “topic nme”, then try “topic as3”… jumping between github repos, wrong pages, other languages…

In the end sometimes I find an answer, others I have to translate from flash, seldomly nothing, just figure it out by myself.

This idea, this topic, is great. I think this community has to grow and a very good way to achieve this is a good base of documentation and tutorial.

There is no way the few (great) people (I really appreciate what you do) could develop OpenFL and write state-of-the-art documentation and tutorials at the same time.

After reading all the conversation I think the WIKI idea could be great, allowing everybody to contribute on a platform that everybody knows.
Maybe some people will just put some code snippets, others will write best practices, others basic tutorial and somebody, like in every wiki, will love to make housekeeping and giving consistency to the project.

I will follow what you will choose and I hope I could be useful in any way.

Since I’m new to the forum as well (just signed in today) I take this opportunity to say Hello World to everybody :smile:

#26

im willing to do something for video tutorials. i do openframeworks ones, mainly because i like seeing what people are doing. plus im dyslecic so actually is better in my own right to do. most people like myself have trouble reading and making sense of things sometimes :wink:
though oddly when typing code, that is fine. think because i like solving problems :wink:

they wont be right away i might add :wink: but will be willing to do some when the time feel right. if youd like to see my youtube openframeworks ones, you can view them here.

but hopefully down the line ill get some HAXE ones out. im absolutely loving it, even just after a day. its brilliant, needs more people and tutorials helping out :wink:

2 Likes
#27

i think the one thing i wold like to see [but if there is something please let me know], is tutorials on the language, on HAXE or OPENFL or whatever that help understand it better.
im assuming that AS3 ones could do to use in HAXE, since its really the same in many respects. i did know some AS2 many moons ago, just before HAXE actually came out

but if anyone has a good resource to learn from, then please share. video tutorials for me are best if the documentation is not thorough and clear. being dislecik makes it hard reading most of the time so documentation that isnt thorough is hard to grasp. so video tutorials are more than welcome :wink:

thanks

EDIT
and with things such as tutorials. the one thing im looking at is what people would want to know, and what it is myself i have been searching for.
since HAXE/OPENFL is for games and the such. my first port to call is normally joysticks, but have not found anything on that. sprite animation has also been another, but my troubles with how haxecoder has done them assumes that you know where things go already.

so, myself, when i get better at HAXE/OPNFL will be these things first, because for me, these are important. i guess isnce ive been a gamer for an insanely long time so really look at what drives a game.

anyhow… to VALHALLA!!!

DEFINITE LAST EDIT :slight_smile:
whilst this is a community and we are all on the same boat to the outcome of learning and also what we would like to see. how about we also team up.
so say, if somenone wants to do video tutorials but cant, due to not have X or Y [not having the software or good microphone etc], why not team up with people who can?
just a thought really to the future of these tutorials. because really, good tutorials and documentation are the key to things surviving, especially when you have a dozen other things that peopel can go to.

#28

id love to see that. the PDF ‘looks’ good, but i cant read french anymore. used to, very much so :wink:

#29

this is also something very nice i have come across. good idea i think

#30

I.M.H.O. the main issue here is the target audience for tutorialss. I clearly see 2 different type of “potential users”:

  1. Programmers who know how to program and don’t know too much AS3/Flash concepts
  2. Flash coders who don’t know how to program.

I think a forum is a great way to learn. Specially this one which suggests yuou topics while you are opening a new one In my experience in other forums the key difference is in the question and not in the answer. If you as a beginner make the right questions, it will be easy for the experts to answer and the knowledge of the forum will exponentially grow. But once again, the 2 target audiences will be completelly different and what it will be usefull for one, it will not help a lot the other one.

Finally, and using the metaphor of car driving, I would not be able to learn you how to drive in the middle of NY. I will teach you the basics and the rest you are at your own, and the only way you have to learn is with experience.

My 0.02 cents
Luis

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#31

just one last thing i would like to say in regard to the already existing documentation.

i myself with documentation like to see some code. whilst the explanation of the code is good like - ‘x is controlling the x position etc etc’. but having some code example that people could try for themselves is really super useful.

now im not saying that the documentation NEEDS everything and has to be this type of mammoth, but something which people can try right away is a sign of very helpful documentation, its bordering on tutorials, but leaving the major tutorial part out. but also if there is code, then people can actually see the layout, if you get me?

one such example i will show is CLASS. now while that explains it, it does not show something, i myself look at it and go 'well… ok?'
so i think is even more important to why it is the way it is with a code example. but that just a theory really. but think it would help other who look at documentation.

i feel that a lot of bad habits have been followed with many different documentations, but would be good to come out of that and show that HAXE/OPENFL is the choice to go :wink:

but again, its just an idea that i feel would help even further :wink:
id be more than willing to help once my own skills become better :wink:

#32

I would love, love, love to have more learning materials. I’m torn between the desire to teach and the desire to make the platform better and more stable, myself :slight_smile:

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#33

i guess what could be done, is that yourself makes the platform better then let us, with the relevent info and guidance, can make the docs?
a nice team up between creator and community :wink:

#34

what i would suggest. just since i have been looking at them. is to even update, and add plenty more to the example given with OPENFL.
makes sense to make more for that as well, since they are the first things that you actually get your hands on properly :wink:

think things like simpleButton and stuff like that are missing. things which we use a lot in games/applications. the examples do a great job, but dont show even a majority of what OPENFL
this is someone speaking from only using OPENFL for about 6/7 days now. im enjoying it absolutely as much as anything in a long tme. but the examples are light in my mind :wink:

#35

Tutorials for a framework is almost entirely pointless for someone who already knows how to program. All it requires is an API reference to determine what does what, given that it is well documented.

I believe we should encourage tutorials for learning Haxe, and encouraging the use of API references as they are always useful as a guide. It can help to have written tutorials to understand how an API works, and the best practices for using it, but it’s not essential.

While the Haxe manual is an okay start, it’s not the best. It feels to me as if it assumes the reader knows programming, and does very little to explain what a lot of the programming jargon actually means. What would be nice is a well documented reference on the keywords and programming practices in Haxe and what they do in plain English - no jargon whatsoever - and then explain from then what could be next.

For instance, OpenFL, working with Web frameworks for Haxe etc.

#36

i was doing some searches for tutorials, as3 based etc. and whilst they can help, they are not great. because of things like, setting the center of an object. in flash, you do it in the application, rather than the code.
anyhow…

so i was also looking through the actionscript 3 reference, and then found this LINK for the ‘AS3 programming pdf’, and think that even that would be a good starting point. convert the ideas, examples and other such things to suit haxe/openfl.

anyhow, just thinking of things that could help :wink:

#37

ive been flicking through the actionscript cookbook that @LarryB mentioned. and it is quite nice.
so for myself, and for everyone else, im actually going to convert that to OPENFL. then put on my github, or if they are good enough, then hopefully on the openfl learning page through github

but these are for learners. but still would be good to have them. plus i dont mind doing that since it will help with my own learning of openfl :wink:
i have the time before i move house :wink:

#38

found another nice looking [though just about to actually go through it] tutorial which deals in platformer building in AS3, uses flashdevelop

just thought to add it here :wink:

#39

Actually, Discourse forums (this forum) has the option for the author of a subject, to make it a WIKI post, so everyone can edit.
I guess this would require to update to the latest version, but as a bonus, you’ll get the option to mark topics as answered (like stack overflow). :wink:

The idea of tutorials is great. I’ve made some tutorials in hebrew, that I’m willing to translate if I think they are good enough.

IMHO, I really support a forum category dedicated for tutorials. The category could be closed for posting, only for approved community members, or on the other hand, the can be a category for everyone, and a category for writers. This plus the wiki option could get good results.

I really hope this would take off :smile:

#40

It says we have the latest version installed, I’m interested in the “mark as answered” feature :smile:

We could go about things a few ways. Do you think “Showcase” is general enough to include tutorials? Should we rename it?