[solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

lcafiero · 2012-07-20 16:36:54

Awebb wrote:

3. Turn off the auto intendation of your text editor. Python is intendation sensitive, the more you are aware of that from the beginning, the better you will be able to write and read code in the future.
EDIT:
With no "IDE", I meant complex environments with hand holding and automated everything. Geany is an IDE as well, but it doesn't attempt to cook you dinner in the middle of the night.

Yes, yes, yes -- an absolutlely great suggestion by the great and powerful Awebb. We spent nearly an entire class early on talking about indenting because to say that Python is sensitive to indenting is an understatement.

Also, I use Geany and like it a lot, and the kids who have to use my loaner laptops -- the ones with "Mr. C's weird OS" (though, as an aside, they warm up to CrunchBang pretty quickly) -- also like Geany as well.

Awebb -- I'm going to grab that book as well. Thanks for the heads-up.

Awebb · 2012-07-20 16:57:11

So you teach python at a school? Tell me more.

lcafiero · 2012-07-20 17:40:36

Awebb -- Yes, but first a couple of caveats: a.) Because I think it's important to teach kids a programming language in the same way that they learn a second or third spoken language (like Spanish or Chinese), I volunteer to teach kids who want to learn about computer languages, and b.) while I'm not really a dyed-in-the-wool, certified expert on Python, I use it regularly, I like it, and I know it well enough to get the ball rolling, so to speak, with students who are just starting out.

Some history: Since my daughter Mimi has been in grade school, I've been the "tech dad" at her schools. Now that she's in junior high school, our base school (we homeschool now) asked me if I'd do the classes I did at Mimi's previous school. At the previous school -- a private, arts-based (i.e., hippie) school* -- I taught grade schoolers HTML, which obviously isn't a "language" per se, but it was easy and it got kids to think in a coding mindset (for example, an opening tag needs a closing tag, etc.) -- to see how code works.

For the junior high kids, the principal and I discussed it at length, and we agreed on a class with an actual programming language, and since Python is the only one I'm comfortable enough to teach, we held a class this past spring on introducing them to Python. I should note that we started the class by outlining the different programming languges and HTML (and why that's not a language, per se), and then started them on Python.

So I'm not a "teacher" by profession, in that sense. But by the same token, I share what I know (which, in turn, invariably ends up teaching me a thing or two along the way as well big_smile )

Also, this junior high class dovetails with a robotics class available at our base high school given by a parent who teaches it locally at the University of California Santa Cruz. They enter contests, etc, using their robots running programs written by the students. I wish I could talk more about this aspect, but I'm a somewhat far removed from that part.

So if you're still awake, that's the story. smile

*Bear in mind that this is California and her grade school, The Orchard School, did the math and science thing well but also emphasized things like circus arts, sculpting and drawing. So not only did my daughter leave that grade school knowing algebra, she also can ride a unicycle and juggle.

Awebb · 2012-07-20 20:13:36

Thanks for the story. I might PM you with questions and rants concerning home schooling, but for now the level of offtopic is satisfying. big_smile

skbierm · 2012-07-24 09:32:36

Just for the ones of us (like me) - who are coding in Python 3 and are new to Geany ...

Here is a short tutorial, how to setup Geany for Python 3:
http://terminalobsession.blogspot.de/20 … s-its.html

douglas · 2012-07-24 13:54:05

Geany is great. I am trying to learn to work in vim.

sqlpython · 2012-07-24 14:49:16

Geany is great.

I concur... There is a lot to be said for Keeping it Simple during Learning/Tutorial sessions. Using a more base Editor like Geany is a better way learn then say with, Eclipse. Eclipse & other Power IDE have their own big learning curves. I use Eclipse.
Geany is a nice marriage of the simple Text Editor with some IDE attributes and a pop up Terminal. Back in the Day a Editor/IDE like Geany was State of the Art and all a developer could wish for.. and Geany (as/is) is great!

Once upon a time I finished a C++ course A to Graphics strictly using Geany. I believe using Geany gave me a hands on interaction and improved learning through debugging that I would have not had otherwise...

Last edited by sqlpython (2012-07-25 05:02:34)

Tim · 2012-07-25 10:46:05

skbierm wrote:

Just for the ones of us (like me) - who are coding in Python 3 and are new to Geany ...
Here is a short tutorial, how to setup Geany for Python 3:
http://terminalobsession.blogspot.de/20 … s-its.html

Thanks, that worked out really nice smile

jms53 · 2012-10-08 18:51:54

My #! has Python 2.6 as default, and my tutorial happens to be in Python 3.

Not mortally dangerous, but I seem to be unable to install Python 3 from he repositories and installing it from a tar file isn't that awesome as dependancies aren't handled well by tar wink

All tips would be awesome!

----
EDIT, my bad. I had installed Python 3 somehow, but it wasn't in my bashrc. solved this by adding an alias in ~/.bashrc so that python calls python3

Last edited by jms53 (2012-10-08 18:57:10)

CrunchBang Linux

SEARCH

#26 2012-07-20 16:36:54

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#27 2012-07-20 16:57:11

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#28 2012-07-20 17:40:36

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#29 2012-07-20 20:13:36

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#30 2012-07-24 09:32:36

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#31 2012-07-24 13:54:05

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#32 2012-07-24 14:49:16

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#33 2012-07-25 10:46:05

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

#34 2012-10-08 18:51:54

Re: [solved] Programming python on #! what do i need?

Board footer