There were a few others that I think were around in 2008, like Starkers, but my memory's a bit fuzzy so don't take that with any great authority.
I definitely agree that a best-practise step-by-step theme construction guide in the Codex would be very useful. I still see many themes using things like query_posts() instead of creating a new WP_Query or a hooking into the pre_get_posts filter. As I mentioned below, Wordpress would ideally have its built-in functions trimmed dramatically, though this would really murder backwards compatibility.
I don't really think it's Wordpress's fault that the Loop uses the alternative PHP control structure, but I agree that the Loop's Codex page is abominable. You may or may not be aware that the Codex is a wiki, and thus poor quality information can and will be added.
I would like to see a loop using the Iterator class. However, there are quite a few complexities to that, as mentioned in this feature request [1]. They also point out that you can foreach and count on $wp_query->posts, so you can get to your information in a more obvious PHP-friendly way for now.
I definitely agree that a best-practise step-by-step theme construction guide in the Codex would be very useful. I still see many themes using things like query_posts() instead of creating a new WP_Query or a hooking into the pre_get_posts filter. As I mentioned below, Wordpress would ideally have its built-in functions trimmed dramatically, though this would really murder backwards compatibility.
I don't really think it's Wordpress's fault that the Loop uses the alternative PHP control structure, but I agree that the Loop's Codex page is abominable. You may or may not be aware that the Codex is a wiki, and thus poor quality information can and will be added.
I would like to see a loop using the Iterator class. However, there are quite a few complexities to that, as mentioned in this feature request [1]. They also point out that you can foreach and count on $wp_query->posts, so you can get to your information in a more obvious PHP-friendly way for now.
[1]:http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/20297