Mailman 3 October 2006 - Edu-sig

Python for Halloween
by kirby urner Oct. 21, 2007

Oct. 21, 2007

Something about using 'ghost' in place of 'self' in a Shell class (allusion to anime as well). Maybe I did something like this last year (having deja vu again). But I'm realizing edu-sig is no longer a preferred venue for my curriculum writing. I'd rather huddle with MIT, Bruce Sherwood, Alan Kay and play *against* Arthur's team. Arthur, you make too many enemies too quickly and too easily. Even more, I'm into my Portland Knowledge Lab (PKL) business (gotta pay that rent today) and want to make lots of Python and Synergetics teaching cartoons for HDTV (my Saturday Morning meme), with lots of brand name sponsors. But here is not the place to brainstorm in safety. Too many prying eyes and self-appointed kibbitzers. So I'm actually resigning this time. Don't expect me back any time soon. Probably won't be tracking either, at least not with any frequency. For me, it's a tilt towards private lists and closed source development (not exclusively -- I'm still a big supporter of a strong public sector). I'm learning why open source is a bad idea sometimes. I've talked to Stallman about this, though he probably doesn't remember -- I was in his audience in Portland and asked about situations when "they" simply *don't deserve* your best code. But I think more it's a matter of not wanting to show unfinished work (a big no no in Fuller's self discipline, according to 'Critical Path' I think it was). Kirby

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Pre-PEP was: The fate of raw_input() in Python 3000
by Andre Roberge Jan. 7, 2007

Jan. 7, 2007

Hi-all, Having had a look at the discussion on the Python-3000 mailing list, I thought it was appropriate to write a draft PEP with the intent of eventually posting it on the Python 3000 list for "serious" discussion/future decision. This proposal could most certainly be strengthened, and the wording improved by a native English speaker with stronger CS background than I have. I have attempted to follow the standard recommended format (including providing both a motivation and rationale ... which seemed a bit redundant and an artificial split...) Feel free to make comments for improvement and even take over the "ownership" of this PEP. André ========================================= PEP: XXX Title: Simple input built-in in Python 3000 Version: $Revision: 0.1 $ Last-Modified: $Date: 2006/09/13 20:00:00 $ Author: André Roberge <andre.roberge(a)gmail.com> Status: Draft Type: Standards Track Content-Type: text/x-rst Created: 13-Sep-2006 Python-Version: 3.0 Post-History: Abstract ======== Input and output are core features of computer programs. Currently, Python provides a simple means of output through the print keyword and two simple means of input throught the input() and raw_input() built-in functions. Python 3.0 will introduces various incompatible changes with previous Python versions[1]. Among the proposed changes, print will become a built-in function, print(), while input() and raw_input() would be removed completely from the built-in namespace, requiring importing some module to provide even the most basic input capability. This PEP proposes that Python 3.0 retains some simple user input capability, equivalent to raw_input(), within the built-in namespace. Motivation ========== With its easy readability and its support for many programming styles (e.g. procedural, object-oriented, etc.) among others, Python is perhaps the best computer language to use in introductory programming classes. Simple programs most often need to contain a means to provide information to a user (output) as well as obtaining information from that user (input). Any computer language intended to be used in an educational setting should provide straightforward methods for both input and output. The current proposals for Python 3.0 [1] include a simple output pathway via a built-in function named print(), but a more complicated method for input [e.g. via sys.stdin.readline()], one that requires importing an external module. Current versions of Python (pre-3.0) include raw_input() as a built-in function. With the availability of such a function, programs that require simple input/output can be written from day one, without requiring discussions of importing modules, streams, etc. Rationale ========= Current built-in functions, like input() and raw_input(), are found to be extremely useful in traditional teaching settings. (For more details, see the discussion that followed [3].) While the BDFL has clearly stated [3] that input() was not to be kept in Python 3000, he has also stated that he was not against revising the decision of killing raw_input(). raw_input() provides a simple mean to ask a question and obtain information from a user. The proposed plans for Python 3.0 would require the replacement of the single statement speed = raw_input("What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladed swallow?") by the more complicated import sys print("What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladed swallow?") speed = sys.stdin.readline() The removal of raw_input (or equivalent) would not significantly reduce the built-in namespace while it would steepen significantly the learning curve for beginners. Specification ============= The built-in input function should be totally equivalent to the existing raw_input() function. Open issues =========== With input() effectively removed from the language, the name raw_input() makes much less sense and alternatives should be considered. The various possibilities mentioned in various forums include: ask() ask_user() get_string() input() # rejected by Guido prompt() read() user_input() References ========== .. [1] Miscellaneous Python 3.0 Plans (http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-3100/) ..[2] The fate of raw_input() in Python 3000 (http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2006-September/006967.html) .. [3] educational aspects of Python 3000 http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-3000/2006-September/003589.html Copyright ========= This document has been placed in the public domain.

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Truth values and comparisons
by Arthur Nov. 6, 2006

Nov. 6, 2006

Looking for a little education on edu-sig. On one hand I am feeling like a big boy, having announced today on the vpython list that I think I have adequately accomplished the necessary fixes to the vpython C++ code to accomplish compatibility with the newly released numpy 1.0, and in a way that I think in the end (it was a round-about process for me) is straightforward and unlikely to introduce bugs into the existing stable codebase. OTOH, I am learning there is some very basic Python I do not understand. Now having a vpython that runs against numpy, I am learning about some of the changes in the numpy Python API versus that of Numeric and numarray. One basic incompatibility is in that the older libraries did something to give a result in comparing 2 arrays that numpy backs away from - complaining about ambiguity. For example, in the vpython faces_heightfield.py demo there is a line: >>>normal[i] = vertex_map[tp] and norm( vertex_map[ tp ] ) which ran fine under Numeric and numarray, and now fails with a message: """ The truth value of an array with more than one element is ambiguous. Use a.any() or a.all() """ For the purposes of the exercise assume that both "vertex_map[tp]" and "norm( vertex_map[ tp ]" each return one dimensional, 3 element numpy arrays. Not exactly true, but I think the result would be the same if it were. In the original code, what is the "and" doing, and in what way might the "any" or "all" built-ins be used to get the result intended by it? Art

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Accredited training for school teachers?
by Jeff Sandys Oct. 26, 2006

Oct. 26, 2006

Is there an accredited Python training program for middle or high school teachers. In my experience, teachers will not take additional training unless they can get service or training hours credit. I would like to expose some teachers to Python but they won't take a class from me. Thanks, Jeff ________________________________________________________________________ Try Juno Platinum for Free! Then, only $9.95/month! Unlimited Internet Access with 1GB of Email Storage. Visit http://www.juno.com/value to sign up today!

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python education search engine
by Toby Donaldson Oct. 24, 2006

Oct. 24, 2006

Hi all, I am playing with the new Google "co-op" search engine feature, and have created a Python education search engine: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=017583026537348134569%3Axorqs4uwyn4 Volunteers are welcome! Toby -- Dr. Toby Donaldson School of Computing Science Simon Fraser University (Surrey)

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PyDX - announce
by Simon Burton Oct. 22, 2006

Oct. 22, 2006

Hi, I'd like to let edu-sig know about this project I've been working on. It is too under-documented to be really useful as an educational tool ATM, but a lot of the concepts behind the code are both simple to understand and deeply profound, mathematically. Hence this post to edu-sig. Check it out! PyDX - first public announcement ================================ Overview -------- PyDX is a package for working with calculus (differential geometry), arbitrary precision arithmetic (using gmpy), and interval arithmetic. It provides: * multivariate automatic differentiation (to arbitrary order) * Tensor objects for computations in differential geometry * Interval scalars (based on libMPFI) for calculating rigorous bounds on arithmetic operations (validated numerics). * Arbitrary order validated ODE solver. PyDX uses lazy computation techniques to greatly enhance performance of the resulting functions. This code grew out of a research project at The Australian National University, Department of Physics, which involved computing bounds on geodesics in relativistic space-time's. Documentation ------------- http://gr.anu.edu.au/svn/people/sdburton/pydx/doc/user-guide.html http://gr.anu.edu.au/svn/people/sdburton/pydx/doc/api/index.html Subversion Repository --------------------- http://gr.anu.edu.au/svn/people/sdburton/pydx/ Simon Burton October 22 2006 The Australian National University

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Python in Education planning for PyCon 2007
by Jeffrey Elkner Oct. 17, 2006

Oct. 17, 2006

Hi All, I've created a link off the PyCon 2007 wiki to use to help us plan for Python in education activities at the conference: http://us.pycon.org/TX2007/PyEdu Please add your name to the list on the page if you are coming. Last year was a very productive one for Python in education. Projects such as RUR-PLE and Crunchy Frog are providing more and better tools for teaching programming with Python. In addition to the EDU BOF dinner we had last year, it would be great if we could have some presentations with a Python in education focus, and perhaps a few project planning meetings and work sessions as well. I'll be bringing two students and a former student who is now a Zope 3 developer. We will be staying for the first two days of the sprints to work on SchoolTool/CanDo. Hope to see you at the conference... jeff elkner

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Re: [Edu-sig] The Fate of VPyton
by ajsiegel＠optonline.net Oct. 14, 2006

Oct. 14, 2006

Did a litttle googling on the build issues... enough to determine that projects using boost.python seem to be finding that Scons makes the best alternative to a building mechanism of bjam, make or some combination thereof. For example: http://mapnik.org/documentation/install/ Of course with the additional advantage that Scons is Python, so that whatever difficulties are posed, at least it is not learning a new syntax, as someone like myself faces with make or bjam. Willing to invest in learning something about C++ and the Python C API. Enough already. So we are adding Scons build to the next, so far imaginary, generation of vpython. "We" are? Art

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Python 3D Software Collection
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 12, 2006

Oct. 12, 2006

A small collection (73 packages) of pointers to Python software for working in three dimensions http://www.vrplumber.com/py3d.py

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OpenSG
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 12, 2006

Oct. 12, 2006

OpenSG is a portable scenegraph system to create realtime graphics programs, e.g. for virtual reality applications. It is developed following Open Source principles (LGPL <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html>) and can be used freely. It runs on Windows, Linux, Solaris and MacOS X and is based on OpenGL <http://www.opengl.org/>. http://opensg.vrsource.org/trac/wiki/WikiStart

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Uni-Verse >> Edu-Verse ?
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 12, 2006

Oct. 12, 2006

3 year EC [European Commission] funded project to "create an open source IP-based platform for multi-user, interactive, distributed, high-quality 3D graphics and audio for home, public and personal use." [started 2004, grant budget 1.9 Million Euros] Blender >> Python implicit http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Newsitem.607+M5e406b7dff1.0.html http://www.uni-verse.org/ There is surely an Edu-Sig follow-on EC grant waiting to be signed 2007 for project seriously building on-top of Uni-Verse for open Edu applications and content. Or perhaps even if extend/adapt Blender in more focused modern "educational" directions... * Blender Conference 2006 € 85.00 *Amsterdam, October 20-21-22 http://www.blender.org/e-shop/product_info.php?products_id=89 Jason

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ANN: Advanced Python training course, Nov 8-10, San Francisco
by wesley chun Oct. 11, 2006

Oct. 11, 2006

FINAL REMINDER... we still have some seats left! What: Advanced Python Programming When: Nov 8-10 2006 Where: San Francisco (SFO/San Bruno), CA, USA http://cyberwebconsulting.com (click on "Python Training") This course, meant to follow our in-depth introduction class, adds new tools to the Python programmer's toolkit. We explore advanced topics such as: network programming with sockets, Internet clients, GUI development, Web/CGI, databases/SQL, Extending Python with C, threads, etc. Lectures and lab will get attendees comfortable developing applications in these areas. Come join us in beautiful Northern California for another rigorous Python training event taught by software engineer, "Core Python Programming" author, and technical instructor, Wesley Chun. This course will take place in San Bruno right near the San Francisco International Airport at the: Staybridge Suites San Francisco Airport 1350 Huntington Ave San Bruno, CA 94066 USA +1-650-588-0770 LOCALS: accessible from the entire Bay Area: parking + easy 101/280/380 access, across the street from San Bruno BART and up the street from San Bruno CalTrain stations VISITORS: free shuttle to/from the airport, lots of free food and wireless The cost is $1295 per attendee. Discounts available for students and teachers of secondary and post-secondary educational institutions. For more information and registration, go to the website above. 2007 CALENDAR: Feb 7-9 (Intro), May 16-18 (Advanced), Aug 20-22 (Intro) hope to see you in class! -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Core Python Programming", Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com

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MIT sketching (Squeak on steroids?)
by Daniel Ajoy Oct. 11, 2006

Oct. 11, 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZNTgglPbUA Daniel

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The fate of vpython
by Arthur Oct. 11, 2006

Oct. 11, 2006

This from the August 10 announcement of VPython 4.0beta5 """ In the "Recent developments" section of vpython.org you can read a summary of the new features, which is also included in the documentation contained in the release. This includes a description of remaining known bugs, some of which are serious, which means that you may enjoy playing with the exciting new features, but be aware that there are problems. I am not going to be able to do any more work on VPython for about three months, as the publisher of the physics textbook Ruth Chabay and I have written needs a second edition completed by November. Jonathan Brandmeyer has graduated from NCSU and is moving on to other things. So unless someone else steps forward, it is possible that this version 4 beta is frozen for several months. Bruce Sherwood """ Essentially it reads to me that the 4.xxx branch of vpython is in some netherworld and, probably, deep trouble, with serious bugs, and no developer. Don't know what Bruce's plan might be after completing his textbook work, but I think he would acknowledge that he's not the guy to do the hands-on development work to put things back on track. Problem is, neither am I. But I will try to begin to take this bull by the horns, as time allows. My plan at the moment is to try to fork from the latest stable 3.xxx branch, with the initial goal of making it Numpy compatible. As Numpy approaches final 1.0 release as the standard for array processing in Python, it seems to me that a package such as vpython *needs* to work to support it if it is to survive. If it doesn't survive there is a serious hole in the Python educational world, IMO. Serious educational projects are already suffering from this lack of compatibility. See "The World is Your Python" http://www.physics.cornell.edu/~myers/teaching/ComputationalMethods/python/… related to a Cornell U graduate physics course """ Computational Methods for Nonlinear Systems This course is a graduate computer laboratory, emphasizing hands-on programming with a variety of data structures and algorithms. We focus on the next generation of tools for computation, simulation, and research in a broad range of fields """ where vpython is among the required packages, but where they face: """ The current version of VPython, however, is built on top of the older Numeric package, and seems a bit fussy when used in conjunction with the newer NumPy. """ "Fussy" I think being a bit of an understatement I have gotten as far as to set up my ubuntu environment with necessary dev libraries for building against Python2.5 - boost, gtk2, gtkglarea,etc. and atc. and began to explore the .cpp moudles related to Numeric compatibility. It would be great to see something concrete come out of all this edu-sig chaos, brainstorming, bickering and worse. So I would prefer to see this fork of vpython from 3.xxx live as a community project, with *real* C developers involved, rather than myself learning as I go and perhaps quickly finding myself over my head and throwing up my hands. Any interest out there?? Art

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Re: [Edu-sig] Using Python as the "CS 1" programming language
by Arthur Siegel Oct. 9, 2006

Oct. 9, 2006

Just wanted to make sure that appropriate folks were aware of Titus Brown's request @: http://ivory.idyll.org/blog/oct-06/python-in-cs-1 In short, he is in discussion with Michigan State regarding a faculty position and teaching CS101 with Python has come up in those discussions, and he is looking for folks who have done so. Art

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VisAD Python Scripts
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 6, 2006

Oct. 6, 2006

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/README.python

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Usign Python with VisAD
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 6, 2006

Oct. 6, 2006

Using Python with VisAD http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~tomw/visadtutor/

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Google Code Search
by Jason Cunliffe Oct. 6, 2006

Oct. 6, 2006

http://www.google.com/codesearch http://code.google.com/ *http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3729*

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Re: [Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 39, Issue 2
by John Posner Oct. 3, 2006

Oct. 3, 2006

Kirby said: > We say "reference" a lot when talking about a variable's relationship > to a piece of memory. I'm thinking "handle" could be used more > (optionally -- this is not an instruction) and we could even show a > coffee cup (doesn't have to be coffee -- a mug) with two handles, when > explaing how two (or more) variables may have the same "contents" (a > feature, but also a source of bugs, confusions for beginners). Picking a good metaphor, tailored to the pedagogical situation, is very important: it provides the critical cognitive bridge from what the student *already* knows to what you want the student to *learn*. The best metaphor I've encountered for the concept of variable, as implemented by Python, is John Zelle's. On page 34 of "Python Programming: An Introduction to Computer Science", he says: Assigning a variable is like putting one of those little yellow sticky notes on the value and saying, "this is x." Thinking "sticky note" makes it easy to teach students that: * Even if "x" is already assigned to one value, you can assign it to another value. (Take the note off the first value, and stick it onto the second one.) * In Python, any variable can be assigned to any value. (By contrast, some languages have "colored sticky notes", and you can't stick a BLUE sticky note on a RED value). John Z, do you take this angle in your book? I didn't see it, but I confess I may have failed to look thoroughly enough for it! * You can assign "x" and "y" (etc.) to the same value. (You can place any number of sticky notes on the same value. A note is always attached to a value -- a note is never attached to another note.) * Jut what does the "del" statement actually do? (It removes one sticky note from a value. If a value loses all its sticky notes, it becomes totally *incommunicado* -- there's no way to get to the value.) * What's a namespace? (A bunch of sticky notes.) * etc., etc. The coffee-cup-handle metaphor is certainly useful, but IMHO not quite as spot-on as the sticky-note metaphor. -John Posner

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Fwd: [EuroPython] Children first and a hole-in-the-wall
by francois schnell Oct. 3, 2006

Oct. 3, 2006

Just saw this on the europython list : ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Harald Armin Massa <haraldarminmassa(a)gmail.com> Date: 02-Oct-2006 21:15 Subject: [EuroPython] Children first and a hole-in-the-wall To: "europython(a)python.org" <europython(a)python.org> Hello, all who were fascinated by the "children first" talk of Alan Key might find this article interesting to: http://www.greenstar.org/butterflies/Hole-in-the-Wall.htm So please try to imagine the possibilities given by OLPC with Python preinstalled Harald -- GHUM Harald Massa persuadere et programmare Harald Armin Massa Reinsburgstraße 202b 70197 Stuttgart 0173/9409607 - Python: the only language with more web frameworks than keywords. _______________________________________________ EuroPython mailing list EuroPython(a)python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython

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Talking about "Handles"
by kirby urner Oct. 2, 2006

Oct. 2, 2006

A thought about pedagogy: We say "reference" a lot when talking about a variable's relationship to a piece of memory. I'm thinking "handle" could be used more (optionally -- this is not an instruction) and we could even show a coffee cup (doesn't have to be coffee -- a mug) with two handles, when explaing how two (or more) variables may have the same "contents" (a feature, but also a source of bugs, confusions for beginners). Python doesn't mind if you use multiple handles for something. Garbage collection won't happen to anything with a handle in an active namespace. More could be said (not necessarily by me). Kirby Setting: Hanging out with Don the boat captain tonight. His wife is Jewish and wants to celebrate YK with no distractions, so he's hanging in the 'hood, planning to sleep on Meliptus (his boat).

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