[wp-hackers] Easytags template system

[Chris Casciano]

On May 10, 2006, at 10:05 AM, Rob wrote:

> Elliotte Harold wrote:
>> Rob wrote:
>>
>>> You wouldn't have to learn two syntaxes, though. If you preferred to 
>>> write in pure PHP then you could, but if you preferred the simpler 
>>> syntax then you could choose that. As far as I can see, it's 
>>> win-win.
>>>
>>
>> A common misconception. Anyone doing serious work with WordPress 
>> would have to learn both because they'd have to be able to read both 
>> dialects, even if they only chose to write in one or the other.
>>
>> The importance of readability in code is vastly underestimated. A 
>> multitude of ways to say the same thing makes writing code marginally 
>> easier at the expense of a more than linear increase in the 
>> difficulty of reading code.
>>
> Why would they have to read both? Like Matt said, this is JUST FOR THE 
> ADMIN TEMPLATE EDITOR. It just means that people who are uncomfortable 
> with editing PHP and uploading files (the same people the editor was 
> created for) will have an even easier job of modifying and indeed 
> understanding their themes' code.
>

But its not JUST the admin template editor that is impacted and its not 
JUST those who are comfortable with PHP that might need to be 
"bilingual" as I mentioned in my other post this morning. You also have 
to reconcile the differences between the 2 syntaxes in the minds of a 
user when dealing with things like:

* documentation
* tutorials
* learning by opening up and examining other templates
* people on forums and mailing lists and answering peoples questions

This isn't an obstacle that cannot be overcome, but its one that 
neither applications that use templating logic front to back, nor ones 
that don't use them anywhere have to deal with.

Since you're trying to solve the new user "problem" the question as I 
see it has to be do you gain enough by pushing this conflict further 
down the line for someone learning WordPress to make the switch from 
where you're at now worth any of the other logistical headaches.

-- 
[ Chris Casciano ]
[ chris at placenamehere.com ] [ http://placenamehere.com ]