[pygame] Would like to contribute newbie documentation

[David Clark <silenus@telus.net>]

Scott L. Patterson writes:
 > Hello all,

Hi, Scott! Welcome to pygame!

 > Anyway, what I have to offer is newbie documentation. As I write simple 
 > programs to test various features of the library I'd like to document 
 > them and have some of the users review them. We could then base some 
 > formal documentation based on my notes and such.

Documentation is always greatly appreciated. Up until now, we haven't
really done a lot of newbie-level docs - most of our early adopters
were familiar with C SDL, and concentrated on other things. As pygame
becomes more popular, we'll be getting more users who's first
introduction to graphics programming will be through our project. As
such, I can certainly see the need for topic guides.

I think Pete Shinners has started the process with his tutorials; the
"Choosing and Setting a Video Mode" one is especially appropriate for
those new to SDL. Other topics I can picture useful:

- What are sprites?
- What is the Rect object? How should I use it?
- What are some general techniques for speeding up screen refreshes?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of using hardware
surfaces?
- What are the pros and cons of the different keyboard input
techniques (keydown vs get_pressed).
- An explanation of colorkey and alpha effects - when do we use RLE?
What are 'Magic Colors'?

This has been a 'back of mind' project for me for a few months; I've
got a few projects I'd like to get underway before I write any
docs. If you could contribute any documentation, that would be
terrific.

If I could take a moment to add a little self-promotion - if you feel
that any of these 'simple programs' would be of general interest to
those new to pygame, please consider contributing them to the Pygame
Code Repository:

http://www.pygame.org/pcr/

Though most of the submissions so far address what I'd call
intermediate-level issues, there's certainly room for more basic
code samples. Submit, and I'll add a screenshot and a little
commentary and post it.

Again, welcome to pygame. I you find the library useful.


-- 
David Clark
silenus@telus.net
Futility at #pygame on irc.openprojects.net
Grab pygame: http://www.pygame.org
Play Twitch: http://www3.telus.net/futility/twitch/index.html

____________________________________
pygame mailing list
pygame-users@seul.org
http://pygame.seul.org