Re: Where is Emacs Lisp taught ?

[Bob Proulx]

Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > Programming editor commands has the additional advantage that a program need
> > not be very large to be tangibly useful in editing. A first project can be
> > very simple. One can thus slide very smoothly from using the editor to edit
> > into learning to program with it.
> 
> Of course, after 30 years of development, most of the things a beginner
> will want has already been coded up, so the beginner's reaction nowadays
> is to look for a package which provides the thing he's longing for.
> Missing this opportunity to learn to hack along the way.

I remember a master carpenter who said when new people came to him
applying for a carpenter job that he would ask them to build two
sawhorses by way of interview.  By their work and results he could
judge if they were competent enough to hire or not.  The task is one
that can be easily accomplished by someone trying to hire on as a
carpenter in a short amount of time.  And sawhorses are always useful
to have around a job site.

I have often felt that in recent years we have lost the idea that a
tool builder should build their own tools.

Bob