Mailman 3 September 2012 - Edu-sig

a short essay about programming
by kirby urner Dec. 8, 2022

Dec. 8, 2022

A common "error" (not too serious) that I see in beginning Python (and no doubt other languages, but Python is the one I'm teaching), is having a while condition that appears to put a lid on things, but then the flow all leaks away through break statements, such that the "front door" condition is never revisited. while guess != secret: guess = int(input("Guess?: ") if guess == secret: print("You guessed it!") break else: print("Nope, try again...") What's messed up about the above code is you never really go back to the top in the case where you'd get to leave. Rather, you exit by the back door, through break. So in that case, wouldn't have been simpler and more elegant, even more "correct" (dare I say it) to have gone: while True: # no ifs ands or buts guess = int(input("Guess?: ") if guess == secret: print("You guessed it!") break else: print("Nope, try again...") I see lots of heads nodding, and that could be the end of the matter, but then a next question arises: wouldn't this also be a more correct solution?: while guess != secret: guess = int(input("Guess?: ") if guess == secret: print("You guessed it!") continue # instead of break else: print("Nope, try again...") We're back to having a variable while condition, not a boolean constant, but this time we actually exit by means of it, thanks to continue or... while guess != secret: guess = int(input("Guess?: ") if guess == secret: print("You guessed it!") else: print("Nope, try again...") ... thanks to no continue. This last one is getting a thumbs up, but then I'd pause here and say "continue" can be easier on the eyes. It's unambiguous where it takes you, in contrast to having to scan on down the gauntlet, looking for possibly other open doors. "What happens next" should not require scanning ahead too far. Help us not to get lost. Be a civic-minded coder. I'm thinking of a programming style that advises two things: (a) if you use a while condition that's variable, that's expected to change, then your goal should be to always exit because of that, i.e. that should be your only exit point. Even if some other criterion suggests exiting, you have the option to flip that "lid" at the top, to crack that front door, and bounce the ball out. (b) which is why 'continue' is your friend. You are showing the user where your 'break' statements are, except you don't use "break" statements, as you've given a non-constant condition, and your aim is to make that your ONLY exit point. In short: never use break to exit a while loop unless your condition is while True. Instead, always flip the condition and exit through the font door. However, as soon as I make that rule I can think of good reasons to break it. The other programmers in the room are shaking their heads. Won't we lose information, needed elsewhere in the program, if we "artificially" force a True condition to False. Aren't we, in effect, lying? That concern could be addressed. Keep all the info true, just treat the "lid condition" (it "keeps a lid on it") as a flag. Go ahead and remember the user's guess. allowed = 5 tries = 1 exit = False while not exit: # no other way out guess = int(input("Guess?: ") if guess == secret: print("You guessed it!") exit = True # instead of break continue print("Nope, try again...") tries += 1 if tries == allowed: print("You've maxed out") exit = True continue I think we all understand the main issue: writing reader-friendly code, and rules for doing so. There's something comforting about approaching a while loop and knowing its not a leaky sieve, riddled with back doors, maybe even an exit( ) time bomb. But in the recursion world we want a minimum of two exits usually: when another round is called for versus when we've "hit bottom". Can we have it both ways? Conclusions: Lets not be too hasty with rules of thumb and: Lets keep the reader in mind when writing code. Just because the interpreter knows to compute the flow unambiguously, doesn't mean all ways of writing it are equally reader-friendly. What may seem a gratuitous gesture, an unnecessary flourish, may actually promote reader comprehension of your code, and that should be a goal as much as satisfying the interpreter. Kirby

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python vs processing for introducing programming?
by Andy Judkis Oct. 31, 2012

Oct. 31, 2012

Hello, I've been using Python for about 7 or 8 years now to introduce my 10th graders to programming, and I've been quite happy with it. We start out with a week of Scratch and a week of RUR-PLE (which I love) before moving on to about 3 weeks of Python. Obviously they don't become experts in that time frame, my goal is to just give them a taste of programming. I've tried various Python environments and graphics libraries over the years -- IDLE with livewires, IDLE with the cs1graphics package, JES, vpython -- and they all have their virtues and pitfalls, at least for my application. I've recently become aware of Processing and am really intrigued. Here are some advantages I see: * some fun lessons on khanacademy to get started (a processing library for javascript, actually) * very easy installation, nice simple IDE * graphical from day 1, very easy interaction with mouse * there's a great book on using processing with Kinect (Making Things See, from O'Reilly) and I think I can demo and talk about some cool stuff from that The obvious downsides to me are: * no RUR-PLE * overall, Processing just isn't as real-world useful as Python I'd be interested in hearing from anyone with experience in teaching Processing to this age group, and anyone with any thoughts on the topic. Thanks, Andy Judkis Academy of Allied Health and Science Neptune, NJ

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Education Summit and a personal note
by Naomi Ceder Sept. 30, 2012

Sept. 30, 2012

Hi everyone, I would like to make one more announcement of the PyCon Education Summit. In case you missed it, I have proposed (and gotten full organizer support for) a daylong summit dedicated to education before the start of the 2013 PyCon (March 14, 2013). I've included a full description of what the summit will be below. Since we don't have unlimited resources, and to help connect attendees to their PyCon registration, we're asking everyone who plans to attend to indicate that via Eventbrite. If you haven't already received an invite, please let me know and I'll send you one. We already have about 15 people committed to attending, including some key figures from leading community based programs, schools, and colleges. So if you can make it all (PyCon does offer financial aid, by the way) this promises to be an interesting event indeed! And on a personal note... You may have already figured this out... But since I've been on this list and known some of you for a long time, let me just officially get the word out. To cut to the chase, I'm trans, I'll be fully transitioning to female in about 3 weeks, when (19th Circuit Court being willing) the change will be legally recognized. As far as this list is concerned the main things that will be changing are my name and email. The name and email are Naomi and naomi.ceder(a)gmail.com - my posts to this list will be coming from her from now on. (and if you don't have a clue who I am, well then, never mind... ;) ) I'd appreciate this news not being spread (*too much* at least, I'm aware that this list is publicly archived) on the interwebz for another 3 weeks (I'm still getting things set a work), but otherwise, it's not much of a secret at this point (particularly in the Python and OSS communities). In the (rather unlikely) event anyone cares to know more, the tl;dr version of my story can be found at http://whataboutnaomi.blogspot.com/2012/06/coming-out-post.html That is all... now back to the business of Python and education... Cheers, Naomi Ceder *Education summit description* This summit will be a gathering of teachers and educators from the many > venues that support the teaching of programming in Python - schools, > colleges and universities, community based workshops, online programs, > authors and more. These constituencies differ widely in resources and > constraints, in methods, and in goals and aspirations, yet are all working > to address the same issue - a lack of coding literacy - with the same > belief - that teaching programming is needed and that Python is an > excellent way to do that. > > The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders from those diverse > constituencies to learn more about each other's efforts and gain useful > insight from them, to form connections that might foster future > collaboration, to identify common issues and begin discussing ways to > attack them, and to create an enhanced sense of unity, purpose and > community among teachers of Python, wherever they might be. It is also our > hope that the summit will serve as catalyst for the rest of PyCon to > encourage even more interaction - hallway discussions, open spaces, > lightning talks, and sprints. > > Anyone attending this conference will gain a broader understanding of the > approaches and issues in teaching Python, will have the opportunity to > contribute to the discussion, and will make contacts with other teachers of > Python from across the community. A high school teacher might make contacts > that allow her to enlist the support of a community based program while a > community volunteer might gain useful guidance on curriculum design. > > In addition to active involvement in the process of teaching Python, the > only requirement of attendees is engagement. The morning sessions will > include a keynote and panel discussions that encourage participation and > the afternoon will consist of unconference style breakout sessions that > demand it. So please come willing to learn, to teach, and to participate. > > *Core Issues and Themes* > > As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact Python > education today: engagement, curriculum, and teaching. So I'm proposing > that we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. > > Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - attracting > learners and letting them know why they should be eager to learn Python, > recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with the skills needed to > facilitate that learning, and then keeping everyone involved in the > community. You could also call this "outreach" or even "marketing". > Whatever you call it, we need to attract people who want to learn Python > and the people and the people to help satisfy that need. > > Possible Topics: How are the various education communities attracting > people to their programs? What things can each learn from other programs, > particularly in terms of increasing interest and involvement in the Python > language and community? > > Curriculum - The need for uptodate, accessible and appropriate curriculum > is felt in all aspects of Python education. Community programs need free > and flexible lesson plans and teaching materials, schools are often > reluctant to offer a program without an established curriculum, and > teachers in all areas are often desperate for curricula that can be > leveraged with minimal time and effort. > > Possible Topics: What curriculum materials are currently freely available > for teaching Python? What means can be used to increase their quality, > coverage and availablity? > > Teaching - Again, teaching is a universal issue. Schools often have > experienced teachers, but ones who don't know Python. Community programs > can find Python experts, but they frequently have little teaching > experience or knowledge. > > Possible Topics: what best practices might community programs follow to > help volunteer teachers do a better job? Are there any teaching guildes or > hints available now? What strategies might help schools qualify their > current experienced teachers to teach Python? How might we increase the > number of qualified teachers generally? > > Underlying themes: The two underlying and unifying themes for the summit > are communication and collaboration. > > -- Naomi Ceder https://plus.google.com/u/0/111396744045017339164/about

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Python in k-12 and Raspberry Pi
by Francois Dion Sept. 30, 2012

Sept. 30, 2012

I will be speaking at PyCarolinas 2012 in a few weeks, on the subject of python and the specific computing platform of the Raspberry Pi for learning CS and also electronics and how this scales to real world applications at the highest level. The talk is entitled: Raspberry Pi: From Kindergartners to Mad Scientists http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com/2012/09/raspberry-pi-from-kindergartne… The whole blog ( http://raspberry-python.blogspot.com ) is about python and the raspberry pi. Of course when it comes to hardware interfacing and electronics with the Raspberry Pi, python rules as the de facto language, with various flexible python modules, many tutorials, and a large community to back it up. Through the local user group ( PYPTUG ) and other forums, i received some valuable feedback from students and teachers, but it seems that as far as the Raspberry Pi is concerned, use of python in k12 (on that platform or in general) is mostly limited to personal, self taught endeavours, or the turtle module of python. It is popular with computer and electronics clubs, hackerspaces, makers, hobby groups etc. Also quite popular in community colleges and universities. Even shop classes are getting into the action building cases for the Pi, but not python related. The Pi is used in schools, starting with gcompris for the very young ones, scratch for those a little older and also the turtle module. I also know that rur-ple is used on the platform, but in all, i didn't find as much as i was expecting with python. So, i'm turning to this SIG to try to find more real world examples of python or python with raspberry pi at k-12 levels. I'm also quite happy to hear about other python and raspberry pi use in education. Anyone with an experience to share? Thank you kindly, Francois -- Francois Dion solarisdesktop.blogspot.com - raspberry-python.blogspot.com

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xturtle online via processing.js !?
by Jurgis Pralgauskis Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27, 2012

Hi, I am struggling around with interactive online py tutorials with https://launchpad.net/projects/intro-to-code (ith might become securely sandboxed soon, as pypy made it possible http://blog.sandbox.lt/en/WSGI%20and%20PyPy%20sandbox :) but one more thing is I'd like to let access xturtle functionality online - one possible way could be triggering tkinter to save its canvas to ps, and then convert them with imagemagic and show via web (animated gif or static) - but if pyjamas can render GUI for js (http://www.google.lt/search?&q=pyjamas+python ), mayby there is a way to **translate turtle commands to processing.js analogues** http://ejohn.org/blog/processingjs/ would it be difficult -- how do you think? -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; jabber: jurgis(a)akl.lt; skype: dz0rdzas; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://sagemath.visiems.lt

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RurPLE-NG is nice
by Jurgis Pralgauskis Sept. 24, 2012

Sept. 24, 2012

Hi, just wanted to mention, that http://dev.lshift.net/paul/rurple/ is a very nice and lightweit PLE. what I like most (compared to RurPLE) are: 1) variables watch list (if it had breakpoints, it would rock :) 2) ability to controll speed at runtime 3) "stone" make more sense than "beeper" :] by the way, variables list isn't packed in proposed .msi, so I did py2exe and archived, now one can start experimenting without any installation :) http://ftp.akl.lt/users/jurgis/python/RURPLE-NG-0.51%20%5bindependent%20exe… *** P.s.: in my course: 1) I introduce to LOGO style graphics and Scratch first, loops, variables, conditionals, functions(messages) Even made a simple Karel style app http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/dz0/2759552 ps.: in Harvard they also start with Scratch ;) #from 46th minute http://www.academicearth.org/lectures/cs-50-week0f-introduction-bits-binary… 1a) then propose Scratch translation to Python :) http://ftp.akl.lt/users/jurgis/scratch/python_flavour/ 2) then it's simple to do the same with RurPLE-NG + more 3) probably in the end will switch to turtle module, as it allows GUI interactions - what means games ;) Best Regards -- Jurgis Pralgauskis tel: 8-616 77613; Don't worry, be happy and make things better ;) http://galvosukykla.lt

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Quarter I, Week 2: ScreenCasts, SmartNotes and Code, oh my!
by A. Jorge Garcia Sept. 23, 2012

Sept. 23, 2012

I'm starting to use SAGE and Python in most all my classes now! http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2012/09/quarter-i-week-2-screencasts-smar… HTH, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math, Physics and CS http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009

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Re: [Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 110, Issue 2
by Alan O'Donohoe Sept. 6, 2012

Sept. 6, 2012

---from my phone email client Mr Alan O'Donohoe @teknoteacher http://teachcomputing.wordpress.com > From: kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> > Cc: edu-sig(a)python.org > Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] PyCon Education Summit Update > > Quite an interesting video I'd say. I'm about half way through. > Kirkby, you should persevere with watching the recording, both you and Edu SIG get a favourable mention. :-) Alan

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PyCon Education Summit Update
by Vern Ceder Sept. 5, 2012

Sept. 5, 2012

Hi everyone, I just wanted to bring you uptodate on where we're at with the Education Summit at the upcoming PyCon. This will be a "by invitation only" event, so if you are interested (and I haven't contacted you already) or know of someone who would be really good for and interested in this event, please let me know about that interest off list. One of our reasons for going with invitations is that we want to be sure that we get a fair balance between the various education constituencies in space available, so I can't guarantee that absolutely everyone who wants to come will be invited.... But I'll try. Also we're looking for a keynote and panelists for the topics below, so if you know of anyone that you think would be good, please email me off list. Also if you have any other suggestions or questions, please let me know. There is also a google group for announcements about the summit, so if you're interested, you should join that group - https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en&fromgroups#!forum/pycon-education-su… First of all, the summit blurb is the following: "In 2013, for the first time ever, PyCon will be holding a Python Education Summit. This summit will be a gathering of teachers and educators from the many venues that support the teaching of programming in Python - schools, colleges and universities, community based workshops, online programs and government. These constituencies differ widely in resources and constraints, in methods, and in goals and aspirations, yet are all working to address the same issue - a lack of coding literacy - with the same belief - that teaching programming is needed and that Python is an excellent way to do that. The goal of the summit is to bring together leaders from those diverse constituencies to learn more about each other's efforts and gain useful insight from them, to form connections that might foster future collaboration, to identify common issues and begin discussing ways to attack them, and to create an enhanced sense of unity, purpose and community among teachers of Python, wherever they might be. It is also our hope that the summit will serve as catalyst for the rest of PyCon to encourage even more interaction - hallway discussions, open spaces, lightning talks, and sprints. Anyone attending this conference will gain a broader understanding of approaches and issues in teaching Python, will have the opportunity to contribute to their discussion, and will make contacts with other teachers of Python from across the community. A high school teacher might make contacts that allow her to enlist the support of a community based program while a community volunteer might gain useful guidance on curriculum design. In addition to active involvement in the process of teaching Python, the only requirement of attendees is engagement. The morning sessions will include panel discussions that encourage participation and the afternoon will consist of unconference style breakout sessions that demand it. So please come willing to learn, to teach, and to participate." Also, I've developed a basic statement of the topics we'll be covering: "As I see it there are the three core issues that most impact Python education today: engagement, curriculum and teaching. So I'm proposing that we frame the topics for the summit accordingly. Engagement - By "engagement" I mean getting people involved - attracting learners and letting them know why they should be eager to learn Python, recruiting teachers, sponsors and supporters with the skills needed to facilitate that learning, and then keeping everyone involved in the community. You could also call this "outreach" or even "marketing". Whatever you call it, we need to attract people who want to learn Python and the people and the people to help satisfy that need. Topics: How are the various education communities attracting people to their programs? What things can each learn from other programs, particularly in terms of increasing interest and involvement in the Python language and community? Curriculum - The need for uptodate, accessible and appropriate curriculum is felt in all aspects of Python education. Community programs need free and flexible lesson plans and teaching materials, schools are often reluctant to offer a program without an established curriculum, and teachers in all areas are often desperate for curricula that can be leveraged with minimal time and effort. Topics: What curriculum materials are currently freely available for teaching Python? What means can be used to increase their quality, coverage and availablity? Teaching - Again, teaching is a universal issue. Schools often have experienced teachers, but ones who don't know Python. Community programs can find Python experts, but they frequently have little teaching experience or knowledge. Topics: what best practices might community programs follow to help volunteer teachers do a better job? Are there any teaching guildes or hints available now? What strategies might help schools qualify their current experienced teachers to teach Python? How might we increase the number of qualified teachers generally? Underlying themes: The two underlying and unifying themes for the summit are communication and collaboration." Thanks! Vern -- Vern Ceder vceder(a)gmail.com, vceder(a)dogsinmotion.com The Quick Python Book, 2nd Ed - http://bit.ly/bRsWDW

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Re: [Edu-sig] Quarter I, Week 0? It's off to work we go!
by A. Jorge Garcia Sept. 4, 2012

Sept. 4, 2012

I updated my room with more marker boards for think/pair/share, whiteboarding and flipping the classroom! HTH, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math, Physics and CS http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009 -----Original Message----- From: A. Jorge Garcia <calcpage(a)aol.com> To: edu-sig <edu-sig(a)python.org> Sent: Mon, Sep 3, 2012 4:19 pm Subject: Quarter I, Week 0? It's off to work we go! Here's a little blog on setting up my classroom for the coming year! If you're interested, please visit: http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com/2012/08/quarter-i-week-0-screencasts-smar… HTH, A. Jorge Garcia Applied Math, Physics and CS http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/calcpage2009

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