Arrays

[rprosperi]

(02-25-2019 10:14 PM)ovenglove Wrote:  Funnily enough, I have actually printed it today, just need to bind it but it doesn't really go into programming in any great detail. Things have certainly gone downhill since my HP41 and HP48.

I'll start by completely agreeing that the Prime User Guide could and should be improved, and also kept updated with the always-improving software. However if the Prime UG were to cover every function it has, in as much detail as the 41 UG did, including the tutorial approach to explaining how to use each command, it would be several thousand pages long, and even more difficult to use than it already is.

Even as early as the 48SX (but more so with the GX) the HP manuals had ceased to be instructional and thorough, beginning the changeover to the almost pure reference style that most of them are today. General operation principles are explained, with the goal (and hope) that the user can extrapolate how those principles apply when using the huge set of built-in commands and functions.

Still, the split personality of Home vs. CAS mode, and the persnickety (made worse by not being consistent) details one must know to use both of those is a huge obstacle to both learn and use Prime and IMHO, this is the area the UG is least helpful. Further, using both these modes together is clearly not the domain of 99% of students (supposedly, the target market), and the weird bending and twisting of command syntax to allow this does far more harm then help.

As for programming, there is basic information already included but without context, it's not too helpful. I think it would benefit to include a few thoroughly commented, non-trivial programs (each with a separate focus such as graphics (a game using touch screen and keybaord), symbolic math (showing how to use CAS programs), matrix manipulation (Eigenvectors/Values), etc.) to illustrate how useful programs work. All programmers (including aspiring programmers) know how to take a working program and hack it into shape doing what they want it to do. Trying to figure out how to do that from scratch, while also learning program language syntax, the editor, resolving errors, etc. can be overwhelming.

Just adding to the wishlist...