I have something to say to anyone who is frustrated that they can’t play with building something on SAFE because it’s not ready, it’s too hard, or because with Fleming all the APIs have changed, most have disappeared and none of it is documented.
“Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera” - Yul Brynner
At least twice now we’ve been in this position as first one API emerged (alpha), then was replaced with another (alpha2) and now we’re here again, at the germination of a third for Fleming. Annoying huh? I mean: what was the point of learning alpha, and then alpha 2, and writing thousands of lines of code which won’t work on Fleming or have now been replaced by it? My answer is below
I get the frustration, and it is hard, and I did moan a bit about that each time - but not any more. This is, for me, literally the best bit of any endeavour and I’m loving it again.
It reminds me of how I felt when I was a boy trying to figure out how to build electronics stuff. You would not believe how long it was before I built a single circuit that worked (about four or five years I reckon) because I had so little understanding or help - just blind persistence (not unlike a Scottish spider). But having persevered, that kicked off something which has helped me ever after.
From a single transistor controlling a light bulb I graduated to an oscillator, then kits, then my own designs, eventually a computer kit, then designed a disk interface and wrote an OS for it. It’s just like climbing a ladder, you start at the worthless first rung that is the hardest to get on. Like a child’s first step - have you watched that? I can see the joy in my baby daughter’s face in that moment.
It’s that joy which makes us reach and succeed, and that’s what I’m loving with Fleming as I get the first pieces to work, and have an app working again.
It’s very hard, but that’s why it rocks. It is also the best way to learn some extremely valuable skills, so if you feel frustrated waiting, realise you can dive in and wrestle to get on that first rung at any time. Myself and others are here to help, so you can always ask - it’s useful to learn when and how to get help - but also that you can always push on alone when you can’t get help, and that is the way to stretch and add to your abilities, which is where you will find the greatest joy in my experience.
The only thing frustrating you is yourself!