[Chicago] python intro for 13 yo -- suggestions?

[Jason R Huggins]

Michael Tobis wrote on 07/12/2006 02:06:25 PM:
> However, the question is whether the browser buys you enough to be
> worth the hassle.

It all depends on what you want to do. For client-side GUI development, I 
think HTML+JavaScript+Firefox(+-Python on the server) is a great way for 
quickly building prototypes. But if you're not doing GUI dev, Python by 
itself, via the interactive prompt, is golden.

> My intended audience is not the same as the intended audience most
> edupython projects are aimed at. Javascript is not a platform for
> science. 

Weird science, perhaps? :-)

> So what does targetting the browser as the user platform buy me, 

As a I kinda said above, it probably doesn't buy you anything if what the 
browser is selling isn't what you want to buy. 

> ... given that my desire is, at least in part, not so much to 
> teach programming concepts as to teach something else and use Python.

Right tool for the job wins again. Luckily, it's Python. :-) That's the 
point of this thread I think. Going back to this mythical 13 "yo" that is 
the topic of this thread, if 13 yo wants to do "webish" stuff or even just 
wants to learn some basic programming concepts like statement execution, 
assignment, loops and conditionals, a browser+JavaScript tutorial is a 
quick win. If 13 yo wants to write a game or a Sudoku puzzle solver, then 
Python's is probably a better environment than JavaScript. If they're into 
NES (13 yo's current hobby, I believe), they'd download an NES emulator 
and start hacking that in whatever language it's written in 
(C/Assembler?). So in this case, the right tool for the job is whatever 
will keep 13 "yo"'s interest the longest. The right tool for you is 
finding a 'frictionless' language that can convey the concepts you want to 
express. And I've seen many projects (like 'vpython') where Python is the 
preferred tool for teaching basic science concepts. 

- Jason