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<br>+1<br><br>Another aspect which as fallen away is that in the old days, we would encourage<br>newbies or a person who has never spoken to present something briefly<br>(whether it's a nugget, a mini-book-review or a how-to).<br>I think this is very important to encourage people to step forward and not be shy.<br><br>Stephen<br><br><br>> Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:57:46 -0700<br>> From: brent.tubbs@gmail.com<br>> To: baypiggies@python.org<br>> Subject: Re: [Baypiggies] newbie nuggets<br>> <br>> Great big +1.<br>> <br>> I've been doing little python programs for a couple of years, but am<br>> still firmly in the "newbie" camp. For me, newbie nuggets are just<br>> the thing to tip the scales in favor of making an effort to get to the<br>> meetings.<br>> <br>> On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 6:10 PM, Daryl Spitzer <daryl.spitzer@gmail.com> wrote:<br>> > +1<br>> ><br>> > I could stand to learn more about:<br>> ><br>> >> * Using IPython (and installing it with an egg).<br>> >> * Using "try/finally" with file handles vs. using the "with" statement.<br>> ><br>> > And since the best way to learn something in depth is to teach it, I<br>> > volunteer to present a "newbie nugget" (good name) on these.<br>> ><br>> > --<br>> > Daryl<br>> ><br>> ><br>> > On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 4:30 PM, Anna Ravenscroft <annaraven@gmail.com> wrote:<br>> >> On Fri, Jun 27, 2008 at 4:21 PM, Shannon -jj Behrens <jjinux@gmail.com> wrote:<br>> >>> I was talking with a friend today, and he brought up the fact that we<br>> >>> hadn't had a newbies night in a long time. I think that the problem<br>> >>> with having a newbies night every year or so is that there are<br>> >>> programmers who have to learn Python all year long. Clearly, there<br>> >>> are training classes, but I think we could do more.<br>> >>><br>> >>> I'd like to propose a slight addition to our normal meetings called<br>> >>> "newbie nuggest". I propose that *at the beginning of each meeting*,<br>> >>> we have a *10 minute* section devoted to newbies in which we cover one<br>> >>> intermediate topic.<br>> >><br>> >> Or pretty basic topics (not "this is a string" but "this is the new<br>> >> string templating")<br>> >><br>> >>> It doesn't make sense to cover how to write a<br>> >>> "for" loop every month, but it would make sense to cover something<br>> >>> like generators.<br>> >>><br>> >>> The format is that one person covers one topic. Slides are optional.<br>> >>> Showing some code, perhaps in the Python shell, is required. I think<br>> >>> this would be a great way to give some of the less advanced Python<br>> >>> programmers something to contribute to BayPiggies. Even if you don't<br>> >>> know what how to write a function decorator now, you could probably<br>> >>> learn it well enough to talk about it for 10 minutes before the next<br>> >>> meeting.<br>> >>><br>> >>> Here are some suggested topics:<br>> >>><br>> >>> * Function decorators.<br>> >>> * List comprehensions.<br>> >>> * Generators and generator expressions.<br>> >>> * Function pointers and map.<br>> >>> * Using "else" with "for", "while", and "except".<br>> >>> * Using StringIO.<br>> >>> * Using IPython (and installing it with an egg).<br>> >>> * Using "try/finally" with file handles vs. using the "with" statement.<br>> >>> * Using lambda.<br>> >>><br>> >> * Starting with pygame!<br>> >> * using datetime<br>> >> * using decimal<br>> >> * using pytz<br>> >> * file handling basics<br>> >> * string formatting/templating<br>> >><br>> >>> I think these could be short, sweet, and helpful for a decent<br>> >>> percentage of our audience.<br>> >><br>> >> +1<br>> >> Great idea JJ! And I like starting the meeting with newbie-friendly<br>> >> stuff - so they don't have to wait through more advanced stuff to get<br>> >> to something they can understand.<br>> >><br>> >> --<br>> >> cordially,<br>> >> Anna<br>> >> --<br>> >> Walking through the water. Trying to get across.<br>> >> Just like everybody else.<br>> >> _______________________________________________<br>> >> Baypiggies mailing list<br>> >> Baypiggies@python.org<br>> >> To change your subscription options or unsubscribe:<br>> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/baypiggies<br>> >><br>> > _______________________________________________<br>> > Baypiggies mailing list<br>> > Baypiggies@python.org<br>> > To change your subscription options or unsubscribe:<br>> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/baypiggies<br>> ><br>> _______________________________________________<br>> Baypiggies mailing list<br>> Baypiggies@python.org<br>> To change your subscription options or unsubscribe:<br>> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/baypiggies<br><br /><hr />The other season of giving begins 6/24/08. Check out the i’m Talkathon. <a href='http://www.imtalkathon.com?source=TXT_EML_WLH_SeasonOfGiving' target='_new'>Check it out!</a></body>
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