More ASP lectures

[Philip Johnson <johnson@hawaii.edu>]

Let's talk about this more in class on Friday, and not use up bandwidth
with "me too" replies. But please consider the following:

* For the most part, Mette and I both believe that more "instruction" on
ASP will be of very limited use to you at this point.  What you really need
to do now is *practice* ASP.  I sympathize with your feelings of being
overwhelmed, but the most effective way to get past them is to dive in and
spend a bunch of hours programming, not by listening passively to more
lectures. 

* There is one more ASP lecture scheduled, but it is in a few weeks. Our
belief is that you need to gain more experience using ASP before any
additional lecture time will be of real use to you.

* Mette does hold office hours, which would be a fine time to talk to her
about your code and ask specific questions.  You can call her at 956-6920
during her office hours if you can't get in to campus.  She can even use
NetMeeting if necessary.  She is also available by email.  But you will get
far more from your interactions with her by first trying to implement your
systems by yourself

* If you have specific ideas for topics to cover in the advanced class on
ASP, please send them to me (johnson@hawaii.edu) not the list.  I will
collect them, talk to Mette about them, and use them in generating the
topics for the advanced class. 

Remember that programming is in some sense a "physical" skill, like riding
a bicycle or playing an instrument.  There's only so much you can learn by
watching.  Most of it you have to learn by doing, and the sooner you start,
the sooner you'll get competant.  Mette has given (in my opinion) a set of
really excellent lectures with great examples of code.  It's now your turn.
I know you guys can do this if you try hard enough. 

Cheers,
Philip