Rename the JASS Class

[Xonok]

When I originally learned of the JASS Class I was quite excited.
"I can finally learn JASS!" Or so I thought.
When actually doing the excercises I simply felt that it doesn't give me anything, so I decided to give up in here.

Some time after I got an idea that I could perhaps learn JASS by converting simple GUI triggers and looking at the syntax.
The first few tries failed due to having to inline too much stuff, but eventually it worked. I had created a unit exactly like I wanted to.

Some time after that I realized, that this class can still be useful, but not in the way originally implied. In my mind I figured out the solutions to multiple exercises that I hadn't managed to complete before.

Anyways, the last thing I figured out was, that this class is a very good place to improve my programming skills should I ever want to focus on that.
Hence, the name of this class should be "Jass Improvement Class" or something like that.

 

[Chaosy]

yeah, I had the exact same feeling. Then I saw the lessons and went like no this is not what I want to learn. So I went reading like 3 different jass noobs tuts and that was what I wanted and it worked.
As said before I think mag failed when he created the theme for the lessons since everybody left

 

[Nestharus]

It teaches you JASS/vJASS from the ground up. You aren't meant to start programming from the get go .

 

[Xonok]

It teaches you JASS/vJASS from the ground up. You aren't meant to start programming from the get go .

The problem is that the way JASS Class is currently executed distances people from the actual writing of functional code, which is the first thing that should be learned.
It's not a problem to those that already understand basic JASS, but those completely new to it will not get anywhere like that. They'll understand the complicated part of the logic, but have no way of actually applying it anywhere.

 

[Nestharus]

The problem is that the way JASS Class is currently executed distances people from the actual writing of functional code, which is the first thing that should be learned.

I disagree, that approach causes a lot of people to fail from the get go.

It's not a problem to those that already understand basic JASS, but those completely new to it will not get anywhere like that. They'll understand the complicated part of the logic, but have no way of actually applying it anywhere.

The actual code, writing from scratch, is slowly covered. Rather than having it all at once, it goes step by step. Functions are among the most complex in syntax, therefor they are one of the last things covered.

 

[Xonok]

I disagree, that approach causes a lot of people to fail from the get go.



The actual code, writing from scratch, is slowly covered. Rather than having it all at once, it goes step by step. Functions are among the most complex in syntax, therefor they are one of the last things covered.

I'm not saying that it should be all at once. What I'm saying is that there should be a way to apply the learned skills outside JASS Class as soon as possible.
Functions being complex? I don't understand how they are. I've never really had a problem with understanding functions. "A function is a piece of code that does one specific task. Functions can be called wherever you wish with the call keyword. (Example below)"

It doesn't take much to get people accomodated to how JASS works. Eventually I got my base in a single day by just trying to convert GUI triggers to JASS and inlining all functions that I didn't like.

 

[Adiktuz]

I agree with Nestharus here, in programming, you are first taught of the the basics, like basic available functions of that language, syntax etc. Actual useful programming comes next... Once you know the basics of what a language can do, you'd be able to do so much more in that language rather than if you just started right away in making scripts...

and this is true for any other subject, you always start with the basic principles...

And you can always try out the things that you learn... That is where your own drive to learn comes in...

If you start out with functions right away, you'll most probably end up needing to post questions here when you encounter some road blocks (even pretty simple ones). But if you know the basics, most of these questions can already be answered by you. You would only need advice or help when it comes to complicated things...

and also, people have different learning curves. You might have been able to "learn" the basics in just looking at some triggers, but some people don't learn like that. Based on my experience when looking at the WEHZ at TS sections, quite a lot of people fall into the 2nd part.

 

[SA Dashie]

Reasons why you could of learned how to do some Jass things by converting a GUI trigger to Jass would only be because you already know the syntax of GUI. GUI has similar syntax to Jass because GUI is made from Jass. I learned Jass the same way as you although I also had alot of GUI experience.

This class starts off with the basics by going through set instructions so you don't get confused by what would be coming in the upcoming lessons. This class is a target to all who want to learn how to use Jass/vJass and not just those who have previous GUI experience.


I haven't given up on this class(have actually handed week #3 in) although they haven't marked it because apparently Week #4 isn't near ready enough yet.

 

[Nestharus]

DeathChef, mag is just not really doing anything with this class :\. I coulda had week 4 rdy with 2 days of work -.-, but I don't want to run this class.

 

[Rui]

The problem of understanding JASS is understanding how programming languages work. The challenge is always getting the meaning and how it pieces together. Once you figure out the meaning of things like function arguments, what a native does intrinsically (in imprecise terms) and so, every language becomes easy to learn. JASS, Java, Assembly, whatever.

 

[Magtheridon96]

One of the reasons this is slow is because I'm facing tech issues here. No editor, no visual studio, no photoshop, nothing. Stupid partition table D:<

 

[DESTROYER123]

I think it should not have the word Class at the end.
Reminds me of school
C.L.A.S.S.

Come
Late
And
Start
Sleeping

 

[Nestharus]

The big thing is how should the class be taught?

The only real complaint I've heard is that the instructions on the assignments aren't very good. Does anyone want to volunteer to actually improve the assignments and the lessons? Does anyone want to volunteer to help write lessons and assignments.

Everyone complains, but nobody does anything. Mag took responsibility for this class, but now he says he can't do it, so it's dead in the water. I'm not ganna do it because I don't want to do it. I don't mind writing a lesson here and there, but I'm not ganna spend a crap ton of time writing entire weeks like I did for the first two.

I can release the curriculum for the JASS Class. I'm thinking we should make this a community effort, not force it all on one person, that is unless people would rather not have it at all.


Complaining about it isn't going to do any good because nobody's going to fix it.


Also, everyone here did want to do special rewards for completing the JASS Class, which is why answer keys haven't been given out. Then again, people are going to be able to cheat regardless if they are just going for the reward :\.

 

[Magtheridon96]

Making it a community effort sounds more productive. We can select like 20-30 people and make a private forum for it with a sticky.

Also, I said nothing about what I can do for this class and what I can't do. I'm just stuck without an editor right now because I can't install Windows on my machine. (And it will be like that for a while)

 

[Nestharus]

no, if we're going to make it community, it should be totally open : \.

I don't know about answer keys. If you get it wrong and look at the answer, then you lose the problem solving portion of it, especially with the projects. The good thing about grading is that we can just mark it wrong and they can keep trying and trying until they get it =). Giving out the answers means that if they don't get it, they'll look at the answer and then they still won't be able to do it (like if I gave them the same problem with slight variations, they'd fail again).

 

[Xonok]

no, if we're going to make it community, it should be totally open : \.

I don't know about answer keys. If you get it wrong and look at the answer, then you lose the problem solving portion of it, especially with the projects. The good thing about grading is that we can just mark it wrong and they can keep trying and trying until they get it =). Giving out the answers means that if they don't get it, they'll look at the answer and then they still won't be able to do it (like if I gave them the same problem with slight variations, they'd fail again).

What about a hintsheet? Something that would slightly push them in the right direction, but not tell the answer if they really don't have a clue.