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Old 08-03-2019, 05:07 AM   #222
White Tie
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Blighty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lokasenna View Post
While technically true, I have to disagree as to its accuracy. When's the last time you saw a new theme that didn't use WALTER? At this point, it seems clear to me that pretty much everyone on here uses "WALTER" to mean "the language you write a theme in".
I am trying to help people by guiding them away from making a mistake. You may think it is nothing to worry about, but someone has made it in this very thread. WALTER is part of theming, it is not theming itself. You may or may may not understand the difference, but a beginner definitely doesn't, and needs to when they are starting out.

I serves no purpose to say what you are saying, but it absolutely could trip someone up. Its pointless. Please stop it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lokasenna View Post
WALTER is a programming language. Hacking existing software has always been one of the most common ways for people to learn how to program. It's expected, and it's generally considered not only reasonable but laudable to do so.
It is certainly not laudable with WALTER. WALTER is very, very simple (and apparently not technically a programming language, for boring reasons I don't really understand or care about) and only becomes complicated in its implementation. I'd wager that almost all of the bad WALTER code that I've seen is a result of this approach. I've taught a lot of people WALTER, including a child. When they learn from the ground up, it takes no time at all; a matter of hours. When I see the code of those who learn by hacking, they too often seem to spend frustrating years recycling the same code without understanding why, while asking desperate questions about problems that only exist because they don't fully understand the code they are using.

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I have no problem with you being wrong. Go for it. But if you post things that are wrong here, on the forum that is a reference for theming, I have a responsibility to point it out. Please try not to take this personally. It is a hard-learned lesson, for years I let people repeat weird things about 'reverse margin' without correcting them, because I have zero interest in telling people they are wrong on the internet, and it became clear that I was letting people down... read this post for the full story.
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