[agilewiki-wiki] learn the tool--the path to understanding

[Bill la F. <laf...@ya...>]

Norm and I have a common problem. We understand rolonics, but when we describe what you can do with it, it sounds like magic. And when we describe how it works, it sounds too simple. And when we explain why it works, people simply can't follow no matter how easy and logical it sounds.
   
  AW is an implementation which supports rolonic activities. It is not necessary if you understand rolonics, but handy. It lets you do things which historicly folk have found to be very hard to achieve. I think of it as a learning tool.
   
  In the 80's, oo was all the range. The whole point was to be able to write reusable code. But that proved almost impossible. The methodologies were developed further and, if you followed them faithfully, then occasionally you would get reusable code. Then came Ms's COM and Sun's JavaBeans. Use interfaces and a factory. Decouple implementations. And most code ends up being reusable to a suprising degree. Simple. And Rolonics is like that, but much more so.
   
  When I think of our cat, I can describe what I know in terms of her relationships, her history, her behavior and her current state. Turns out, that is a really really good way to represent information, about my cat or any system. And a knowledge system, a real, funtional, and practical generic knowledge system can be built just that way. Every system of merit is a system of systems. And the atom of knowledge is the Rolon. Informatin about every rolon can, in a very useful way, be represented as behavior, history, relationships and state. Doesn't do anything for you, does it!
   
  So learn the tool. Use it to describe complex systems, indeed, entire realms of highly inter-related information. Use it to take your class notes. Use it to organize the material for a book. Build a community knowledge base. It is agile, helpful, and practical for such activities. 
   
  The code is a distraction. Code makes no sense unless you understand what the code is doing for you. Until you know rolonics, it will make no sense because you do not know what is being achieved.
   
  OK, so we've got some projects. The GUI needs work (and likely always will until someone who is good at GUI takes the lead). And there are bugs. But right now, dialog is the important thing. Do you understand how to use the commands? More, do you understand what to do with the commands? Work your way through the feature sets. If you find a command that seems strange, ask about it.
   
  And try to do something with it. Enter all your friends and their inter-relationships, activities, contact information, etc. Define complex systems of systems. Describe UNIX and its command set! Describe the history of your country, the people who have helped shape that history and various cultural influences. Then you will learn rolonics.
   
  Bill

 				
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