Trying to learn X-Pages … and fail.

I am frustrated. The last two weeks I try to get into X-Pages. I looked at the different free tutorials, I downloaded the Red Book Wiki and now I am stuck.

First I refreshed my knowledge about JS and HTML/XML. Then I tried the first tutorial:

http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/ddwiki.nsf/dx/Tutorial-Introduction-to-XPages-Exercise-1

Did anybody realise, that the first two screen shots are the same? Looking at the comments, some did, but the error got not rectified since 2009. Does it make sense to follow a tutorial that is not up to date and uses a Domino Designer that is two versions behind? I don’t think so.

Next I tried that one from Declan Lynch:

http://www.qtzar.com/blogs/qtzar.nsf/%3C/font%3Ehttp://planetlotus.org/44f9e4

If you see nothing, me neither. That’s the problem. Is it going to be fixed one day?

My last try was a Red Wiki example. I tried the second one. I got to the point where I had to import the .png files from the domino server. They are not there. Stuck again. It sucks.

A few month ago, IBM Switzerland asked if any Bussiness Partner was interested in X-Pages training. But they offered the advanced course, where you need X-Pages experience. How silly is that.

With all that bad experience behind me, I wonder who else gave up on X-Pages and moved to other pastures, just because they did not get the training they needed. OK, Switzerland may be the worst country you can be for Notes, but it is never too late to learn something new and since I don’t like web developement too much, X-Pages would be nice for my purposes.
Is there somewhere I real good tutorial that works and is up to date?

 

20 Gedanken zu „Trying to learn X-Pages … and fail.“

  2. Matt White’s Xpages Xpages101.net works, is not that expensive, run by a well known teacher of XPages.

    TLCC has an intro course available for free.

    Mastering XPages by IBM’s Martin Donnely and other: the current bible on XPages dev:
    ebook: http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0132694905
    hardcopy: http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0132486318 => also has a link for both.

    Personally, I went with hardcopy. So did my colleague after trying the ebook.

  4. I’ve made my first steps with the Learning XPages-Tutorial by Declan Lynch. In my opinion it is a very good starting point.

    There is a workaround for the broken links. Open the homepage http://www.qtzar.com/blogs/qtzar.nsf/Home.xsp and find a blog entry with a tag „XPages“. Click on the tag and you get a list of all blog entries around XPages. Goto the last page of the list and there you will find the first part of the tutorial.

    I’ve grabbed the tutorial to my local PC via Scrapbook to make it a bit easier, while working through the tutorial.

    Another basic tutorial I used was this one http://www.lotusnotebook.com/lotusnotebook.nsf/D6Plinks/DLEY-7RD27Y from David Leedy.

    If you want to go further, I would recommend the book „Mastering XPages“ from IBM Press.

  5. The intro course from the App Dev wiki is over two years old. That’s been superseded by the subsequent XPages training courses from IBM. It’s a shame that Declan’s course is no longer available, but if you get it, bear in mind also that it was written when 8.5.0 had only just come out. 8.5.1 and 8.5.2 have introduced significant enhancements and, in some cases, closed loopholes that seemed to work even though code was wrong.

    The TLCC course is a good introduction, as well as being free. Paul Calhoun and I recently delivered a two-hour session at UKLUG facilitating developers working through it as well as including a panel of experts. There are then paid courses that take you further.

    The Mastering XPages book is a must. There is very useful information in there even for experienced developers. For the XPages Extension Library a subsequent book is due out early next year, authored by a number of XPages community members including myself.

    Another chargeable option is Matt White’s XPages101 videos, currently past 60 in total. If you’re willing and able to travel to Vienna Matt is running a four-day course in Vienna next month http://mattwhite.me/blog/2011/9/7/new-xpages-course-in-vienna.html. Matt is a fellow IBM Champion and XPages expert and has delivered a host of sessions at LUGs and Lotusphere. Although not a replacement for training, the Show and Tell he has presented with Tim Clark at the last two Lotuspheres is very informative http://mattwhite.me/presentations/.

    Once you’ve got the basics, NotesIn9 is a good reference source, and I’ve also posted a number of tips I’ve learned on my blog. http://xpages.info has a list of useful websites.

    You may also be interested in TheXCast, particularly episode 2 where David Leedy and I (before we became co-hosts of the podcast) discussed our tips for getting started with XPages.

  7. „Matt White’s Xpages Xpages101.net works, is not that expensive, run by a well known teacher of XPages.“ +1

    Matt also take requests for tutorials, which is a nice touch, last lotusSphere I downloaded all the videos and watched them on the plane going over

  11. Hi,
    Please dm me at @lotuseducation and I will send you a copy of our Introduction to XPages materials which you can follow along. It is however based on ND 8.5.1 but can get you started.
    All the best !
    Sonia

  12. For learning XPages I have some resources available in the form of the NotesIn9 screencast at notesin9.com. Most of my videos are geared for the beginner. Many, but not all of my videos are cataloged on XPages.TV – just to try and make them easier to find. I’ll try to update that site today / tomorrow to list all of them.
    I also have a site called xpagescheatsheet.com which has a printable cheat sheet that was compiled from community resources as well as a demo application with basic examples.

    On XPages.TV, at the top I’ve highlighted two of the longer notesIn9 videos that make up my „XPages Jumpstart“. Together that’s about 2 hours that in theory starts from scratch and attempts to explain and demonstrate XPages.

  14. I also recommend the Mastering XPages book. All the other resources mentioned in this thread are excellent, but the book was written by several key members of the development team for XPages… so it’s a very authoritative guide.

  17. I agree with all that mentioned the Mastering Xpages book, Matt White’s course, the TLCC course and David Leedy’s Notes in 9 podcasts. I have read/attended/watched all of those and highly recommend them. There is a significant learning curve, but you WILL eventually get it. Think back to when you first learned any new platform or language, it was likely difficult and frustrating.

    As Xpages evolve and change, of course some materials (particularly free ones) will be outdated. That is the nature of documentation and not a lot you can do about it. Nor is that specific to Xpages.

    Good luck!

  19. Personally I learned a lot from David’s videos (xpages.tv). So I really can recommend that site.

    A must have book is the „Mastering XPages – step-by-step“. If you don’t have a copy, just order it. Awesome book. This is ofcourse if you like the „learning by the books“ idea 🙂

    And don’t forget the (active) XPages developer forum.

  20. if you need any help, please send me an e-mail. When you learn xPages, make sure you have extension installed both client as well as server. Be a part of LotuSphere, if you can, you will learn a lot.

    My advice to you, learn from blogs as mentioned above. Once you about XPages, must read „Mastering XPages – step-by-step“ by Martin Donnely (beautifully written book).

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