I read the Getting started chapter in full and now agree with your approach.

The new version covers the same material with similar progression but there are a couple of minor issues. The formatting of some of the examples is broken: see the code of sections 1.2.6 Presentation type, 1.2.7 Defining commands, 1.2.8 Presentation translators, and 1.2.9 Display function. Also, package names and symbols in package definitions are expressed as strings, keywords, and uninterned symbols. A newcomer may wonder why some code expresses symbols in a particular way, so more consistency may help.

PS The email address of Gilbert bounces.


On Mon, Feb 2, 2026 at 1:23 PM Paolo Amoroso <paolo.amoroso@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks, I like the revised development history as the organisation into sections and the exposition conveys the various development efforts and how they merged. By the way, does McCLIM have a file selector?

As for the Getting Started chapter, I'd like to take some time to read it in more depth. The first impression is that the old version feels like a tutorial and the new one is like a reference.

I don't mind the old version which quickly goes to the point, describes a complete working example program, and iterates by adding functionality and describing the additional features. The descriptions and the working code offer a concrete understanding of the basics of CLIM as well as the main concepts and terms.

The new version feels more abstract as it starts from a long, possibly overwhelming (for a newcomer) list of terms and presents program fragments that, despite the screenshots, may not give a complete idea of what to expect from the examples.


On Sun, Feb 1, 2026 at 11:24 PM Daniel Kochmański <daniel@turtleware.eu> wrote:
Dear All,

I've recently started working a bit on improving McCLIM manual and wrote initial versions of two sections:

Development history
old: https://mcclim.common-lisp.dev/static/documents/d35e5b1-mcclim-doc-current.html#Development-History
new: https://mcclim.common-lisp.dev/static/documents/3d6249-mcclim-doc-sketch.html#Development-History

Time between 2002 and 2016 is based on git history and very helpful comments from Christophe Rhodes and
Gilbert Baumann. It is a draft and I'm writing here to ask old timers to comment on adequacy from the
historical perspective (if anyone can recall) and whether people are correctly attributed. I did my best
to balance contribution importance based on little info I had.

I've also rebalanced a bit years 2000-2002 to focus less on Gsharp (but still preserve all attributions) and
more on the codebase merge and presentation system development.

As much as I'd like to, it is hard to be objective about recent years 2016-2026 given my constant involvement,
so if you have a different perspective then please offer corrections.

Please write on the mailing list what do you think of it and suggest further improvements if there are any.

Getting Started
old: https://mcclim.common-lisp.dev/static/documents/d35e5b1-mcclim-doc-current.html#The-first-application
new: https://mcclim.common-lisp.dev/static/documents/3d6249-mcclim-doc-sketch.html#Getting-started

I've also written an new Getting Started section. Instead of a few disconnected toy applications I've tried
to describe one that covers clim-specific basics - frames, presentation types, commands and translators.
Gathering feedback on this is also important to me.

Thank you,
Daniel


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Daniel Kochmański ;; aka jackdaniel | Przemyśl, Poland
TurtleWare - Daniel Kochmański      | www.turtleware.eu

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi



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