Re: [Axiom-developer] Forward -> Forword ?

[root]

Sorry about that :-). I've been working on the book since Sept. 
and I've finally decided to devote all of my effort to getting it done.
I've finished the first, major pass and now I'm reviewing it for typos,
changes, line overruns, etc.

The big changes left to do are to include the graphics (I can't figure
out how to get two pictures on one page in latex), to fix up the
appendix, and to add a few items like the end-flap charts (assuming I
can figure out a way to draw pictures), possibly some BNF for the
language (assuming I can work it out), and removing the "what's new"
chapter. I'd like to add a chapter explaining the pamphlet format
as well as some build-from-scratch instructions. I'd also like a 
chapter that develops a domain in detail so people can learn how
to program in spad. I wrote a similar chapter for the aldor compiler
years ago.

There has been a drumbeat for a PDF version and Bill has suggested that
I try pdflatex rather than dvipdf. It's on the to-do list.

The only pervasive change I'm contemplating is a global margins change
to use more of the "paper" width. Of course, this change will destroy
some of my carefully hand-crafted examples but such is life, eh?
The original book was very cleverly crafted to use wide paper and
marginal notes but my version is almost nowhere the same (internally)
as I've rewritten everything. I simplified the internals as much as
I could so that it would fit better with the long-term plans.

A later change, not contemplated for the near term, is to use David's
booklet program to change from a book.pamphlet format to a book.booklet
format. This will allow me to split the book into chapters, integrate
it with the literate program output, etc.

Anyway, I expect the changes to slow down in the next two weeks as I
finally accomplish goals. This whole effort took much longer than I
expected.

t