Somehow I posted this in the hardware section, my apologies.
PROGMEM is extremely useful - and as I said in a post to the developer's list, try doing a large LCD project without it. And it's not that puzzling to implement once you have some example code.
So what's the big deal in having the example code in the extended reference section? I thought that was why we made an EXTENDED reference section, so that slightly more advanced concepts would be shielded from beginners. David seems to have some kind of idea of formalist or ideological purity for the reference pages, which I can't figure out.
All I'm arguing for is that the EXTENDED reference section should have nice little details, pointing the way for slightly-past-beginner programmers to get the job done, as well as for beginners to be able to find most of the elements of the C language, so they can begin to understand half of the programs posted in the forum. What the heck is wrong with letting people have information in an organized and sensible way. In my view, the EXTENDED reference page was not getting out of control with irrelevant links or information.
This has not just been about PROGMEM, things like the diagram of the ATEMGA168 chip mapping, was a handy and useful reference on the EXTENDED reference page. This too, somehow runs afoul of some kind of formalist or ideological purity. I personally used the pin diagram a lot from that page while coding and teaching, and I'll bet others did too. The reference page is still very small compared to Processing and Wiring and was definitely not in danger of becoming a swiss army knife IMHO. Others may disagree.
If I hadn't worked on writing so much of the material on that page, I wouldn't be so exercised about this issue. No doubt I am embarrassing myself somewhat and I expect many people are scratching their heads and muttering "get a life", which I understand, viewed from the outside, is entirely appropriate. Lest readers wonder about who edited and wrote most of the material on the reference pages, just click a few of the page history links and look at the authorship. (Some may repeat the "get a life" remark). Users who have been around for a while can remember the reference pages from spring 07 when I began filling them in, and my students remarked to me "why do I have to dig through the forum to try to find out how to do anything, instead of finding it on the reference page"
I DO think we need a complete reference in the public section of the website and one that is collectively edited, instead of being micromanaged from the top. I would like to have a place to document the Arduino language (and bugs and quirks), and hopefully make a robust, publicly-edited reference that lets beginners and more advanced coders alike get the job done as quickly as possible. Another editorial viewpoint from the official one also seems entirely useful.
I just don't have time to do it right now - although much of my work can just be copied from the reference pages at first and then added to. And perhaps after it's in place in the public section of the site, it can be deleted from the "official" reference pages so they will have the minimal elegance that seems to be desired at the top. I'll be happy to help work on reference pages in the public section of the website, should someone else take the lead. I'd like to propose the name "Cabinet" for the public reference to differentiate if from the reference section, but maybe someone has a better name.
Let me say that much of this has been discussed in conversations between DM and myself in the past, and I have tried to have a thick skin about it in the spirit of compromise and cooperation on an open-source project. I have seldom had much of a sense of compromise or attempt to see things from another angle from the other party. Time to get a life and work on other things.
Paul Badger