[toronto-lisp] My notes on the recent meeting

[Paul Tarvydas]

> *** GUIs
>     - Book: Humane interface
>       - jeff raskin

This book (mentioned tonight) - The Humane Interface - is brilliant:

http://www.amazon.com/Humane-Interface-Directions-Designing-Interactive/dp/0201379376/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228280960&sr=8-1


And, as I looked this reference up, Amazon.com reminded me of this other brilliant book that was not mentioned tonight:

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0465067107/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

An easy, enthralling read.

This book is not about programming, but about design.  It examines issues, like, why everyone has had the experience of trying to push a door open when it clearly says "PULL" and how such a simple mistake can 
result in mortally dangerous situations.  

I have not been the same since I read both of these books.

The way I see it, people who gravitate towards Lisp care more about the deeper issues of design and quality.  Lisp'ers are the "architects" and "engineers" of the software world, leaving the Java / perl / etc.'ers to act 
as the tradesmen.   These non-Lisp books might be of interest to people in our group.

These books are, also, available at the library.

pt