Wednesday, December 06, 2017
80/20? More like days/minutes.
A good example of the old 80/20 thing. Up till now my current courseware project hasn't required any new JS/HTML/SVG programming. I've been able to use the control modules I built for an earlier project, which means I've been doing FUN stuff. Making 3d pictures and animations, fitting them into the given text, rewriting the text where needed to amplify the animations. Definitely fun. Constant forward movement, constant creativity with satisfying results.
Now the author wants to incorporate some full-fledged videos and audios in a separate 'case study' chapter. The videos and audios need to be interleaved and segmented, with text and images in between.
Programming needed. Never fun to enter the overgrown jungle of JS/HTML/SVG, but initially looked like a one-day task. Three stages: Embed the video, make the video turn the page automatically when done, do the same for audio. The stages looked about equal in difficulty.
They weren't equal. Organizing the material and embedding the video took 30 minutes. Making the video turn the page when done took SEVEN DAYS. After the solution was established, doing the same for audio took SEVEN MINUTES.
Anyway, now I can get back to the fun part.
¶ 3:24 AM 
