Mailman 3 March 2016 - Edu-sig

outlining a Python course...
by Kirby Urner March 12, 2016

March 12, 2016

Last month I offered some admittedly simplistic heuristics regarding how a boot camp / code school might use the colored belt system of martial arts to signal progress to a goal. https://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2016-February/011368.html Applied to Python, the formula was simply one of "knowing all the keywords" at the end of the day. That translates to a good reading knowledge of Python, with many adventures yet ahead. "Black belt" just means you know enough to keep learning, not that you're now some uber-guru. The language itself doesn't stop you i.e. you can read other peoples fluent code and keep growing as a coder. I've been experimenting with this motif with my ten session class in California. We might twice a week for four hours each time. We do something like (this is a rough approximation): === Week One: basic types / big picture (rolling your own): REPL IDE IDLE distro python.org anaconda.org jupyter core std library 3rd party = dir id is == < > import math tuple list dict set datetime namedtuple True False int float str input print __builtins__ __doc__ help pydoc __name__ __file__ === Week Two: flow of control / structure of a module docstring comment class def lambda map filter return if while for break continue self __getattr__ __getitem__ __call__ __add__ __mul__ __eq__ python -c -m .py .pyc bash === Week Three: file i/o; more flow: open try except finally with assert str.format printf (%) read readlines write seek tell 'b' 'wb' 'w' unicode ascii __str__ __repr__ __enter__ __exit__ sys os os.path === Week Four: globals locals global nonlocal *args **kwargs decorator syntax: @property @classmethod @staticmethod list set dict comprehensions, generator expressions === Week Five: generator functions yield send itertools coroutine yield from async event loops event driven programming GUI tools sockets threading multiprocessing concurrency === Such a Python course is *not* equivalent to a "full stack developer" or web dev course. I'll have more to say on the latter in a future posting. This hypothetical week Six might be a segue: === Week Six: "full stack" sqlite3 http / https; SQL / noSQL JavaScript HTML / CSS, web frameworks requests Flask Django web2py template language === Notes: I like bringing in collections.namedtuple and datetime.datetime pretty early. The former serves as a bridge from index access e.g. Point[0] to attribute dot notation access e.g. Point.x whereas the latter gives students more appreciation for how builtin types may already contain lots of worldly knowledge. Time has concrete meaning and is somewhat messy. That's a good thing. The shift to daylight savings time this weekend is highly topical. :-D For a lot of my special names I use a Permutation class and talk about elementary group theory. There's a simple cryptography angle that keeps the narrative going and enough logic to make the code interesting: https://github.com/4dsolutions/Python5/blob/master/px_class.py This curriculum is still evolving. I'm always on the lookout for good ideas (and on this listserv I get them aplenty). Kirby

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pythonanywhere
by Bob Irving March 10, 2016

March 10, 2016

Looks interesting. Does anyone know if it can import and run pygame? Bob Irving Porter-Gaud School Charleston, SC -- Twitter: @birv2 www.bob-irving.com http://www.scoop.it/t/on-the-digital-frontier

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Re: [Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 152, Issue 7
by Peter Farrell March 9, 2016

March 9, 2016

Hi, Kirby, Thanks for the info about Cloud 9. My Python projects don't run, and all I get is the message on the new page: > "It worked! > Congratulations on your first Django-powered page. > Of course, you haven't actually done any work yet. Next, start your first > app by running python manage.py startapp [app_label]." So I downloaded the mfg.py file and put in the ip and port that Cloud9 says my project is running on. I even started a terminal to put in the above code but what is the name of the app? The python file I want to run? Looking forward to hearing from you, Peter <snip> > > Here's the source code for what's running @ Cloud9: > > https://github.com/4dsolutions/Python5/blob/master/mfg.py > > with this change to the final boot section: > > if __name__ == '__main__': > app.run( > debug = True, > host = os.getenv("IP"), > port = int(os.getenv("PORT"))) > > > Kirby > > > > > >

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Cloud9 vs. PythonAnywhere
by kirby urner March 9, 2016

March 9, 2016

On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 8:16 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 7:01 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > << SNIP >> > > >> I also just signed up for a Cloud9 account. I look forward to comparing >> it with PythonAnywhere.com >> >> Kirby >> >> > Another difference: the free account @ PythonAnywhere lets my run my app continuously: http://thekirbster.pythonanywhere.com/ The Cloud9 version will stop after two hours for free accounts: https://docs.c9.io/v1.0/docs/inactive-workspaces But one can start it again e.g. for a class, by running it again. Here's the source code for what's running @ Cloud9: https://github.com/4dsolutions/Python5/blob/master/mfg.py with this change to the final boot section: if __name__ == '__main__': app.run( debug = True, host = os.getenv("IP"), port = int(os.getenv("PORT"))) Kirby >

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Trinket!
by kirby urner March 9, 2016

March 9, 2016

Wow, thanks Peter, for turning me on to Trinket! http://blog.trinket.io/why-python/ I'm looking forward to using it a lot, maybe even as soon as tonight when I teach my next class. I also just signed up for a Cloud9 account. I look forward to comparing it with PythonAnywhere.com Kirby On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 6:47 AM, Peter Farrell <funcalculus(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, Tim, > > Python's online IDEs are a mixed bunch all right. Cloud 9 <https://c9.io> > hosts a pretty professional-looking environment. > > For people learning Python I highly recommend Trinket <https://trinket.io>, > not least of all because it's the only one I've found so far on which you > can use Python's "turtle" module, my teaching tool of choice. Being able to > use turtles and Visual Python make creating 2D and 3D graphics pretty easy. > > You can also embed the "trinkets" into a webpage, as I've done on mine: > http://www.farrellpolymath.com/code > > Hope this helps! > > Peter Farrell > >

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Re: [Edu-sig] Edu-sig Digest, Vol 152, Issue 5
by Peter Farrell March 9, 2016

March 9, 2016

Hi, Tim, Python's online IDEs are a mixed bunch all right. Cloud 9 <https://c9.io> hosts a pretty professional-looking environment. For people learning Python I highly recommend Trinket <https://trinket.io>, not least of all because it's the only one I've found so far on which you can use Python's "turtle" module, my teaching tool of choice. Being able to use turtles and Visual Python make creating 2D and 3D graphics pretty easy. You can also embed the "trinkets" into a webpage, as I've done on mine: http://www.farrellpolymath.com/code Hope this helps! Peter Farrell On Tue, Mar 8, 2016 at 9:00 AM, <edu-sig-request(a)python.org> wrote: > Send Edu-sig mailing list submissions to > edu-sig(a)python.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > edu-sig-request(a)python.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > edu-sig-owner(a)python.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Edu-sig digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Python in Schools in the UK (Brady, Tim) > 2. Re: Python in Schools in the UK (kirby urner) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2016 12:39:08 +0000 > From: "Brady, Tim" <tim.brady(a)pearson.com> > To: edu-sig(a)python.org > Subject: [Edu-sig] Python in Schools in the UK > Message-ID: > < > CAEU9HMT4oN0Q-kSVgkZq73LftpektYT1iX1sT8VYVpMPx59s_A(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > Hi People > > I hope you can help. I am interested in the many schools in the UK who are > looking at or have already adopted a cloud hosted environment for > delivering applications to their students. > > Python is being used in many schools/colleges in the country - but I do not > know how it can be delivered other than a local install on a students > machine so that students can run it and debug it locally. > > Is there an equivalent of a web-App that allows for python code development > and debug on a chrome book for example? > Or any cloud derivative. > > I hope my question is understandable - sorry for my poor description. > > Thank you for your help. > > Regards > > Tim Brady > *Subject Advisor **Computing & ICT * >

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Python in Schools in the UK
by Brady, Tim March 8, 2016

March 8, 2016

Hi People I hope you can help. I am interested in the many schools in the UK who are looking at or have already adopted a cloud hosted environment for delivering applications to their students. Python is being used in many schools/colleges in the country - but I do not know how it can be delivered other than a local install on a students machine so that students can run it and debug it locally. Is there an equivalent of a web-App that allows for python code development and debug on a chrome book for example? Or any cloud derivative. I hope my question is understandable - sorry for my poor description. Thank you for your help. Regards Tim Brady *Subject Advisor **Computing & ICT *

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Thonny, a new IDE for teaching programming
by Aivar Annamaa March 7, 2016

March 7, 2016

Hi! I've created a new free Python IDE which focusses on program animation. Eg. it can step through expression evaluation, it can visualize call stack etc. More info here: http://thonny.cs.ut.ee/ You may find it useful if you're teaching Python to beginners. I'm teaching 1st year CS students in University of Tartu and I can say Thonny has made my job easier. I'd love to hear your feedback and comments! best regards, Aivar Annamaa University of Tartu

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edu-sig ownership changed
by kirby urner March 3, 2016

March 3, 2016

Greetings educators -- Naomi Ceder and I have taken over the listowner role as of today. I just went through the backlog of deferred posts and approved a bunch. Some will show up in last month's archive, such as Peter Farrell's re Project Euler. If you're not seeing a post you wanted to make, feel free to send it again. I'm just getting the hang of how mailman does it (quite sophisticated compared to Google and Yahoo solutions I would say). Thanks in advance for your patience. Kirby

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rounding out the debate
by kirby urner March 2, 2016

March 2, 2016

I don't think Juliano will mind my getting this posted given it was addressed to edu-sig in the first place.... consider this yet another test. Kirby From: Juliano <julianofischer(a)gmail.com> Date: Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 6:36 PM Subject: Re: [Edu-sig] raging debates and the relevance of a real education To: kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com> Cc: "edu-sig(a)python.org" <edu-sig(a)python.org> 2016-03-01 21:50 GMT-04:00 kirby urner <kirby.urner(a)gmail.com>: > > Students lucky enough to get exposure to RSA (the algorithm) along their > math track are likely having more informed debates in their classrooms, > regarding the Apple vs. FBI standoff. > > They're certainly better equipped, concept-wise, than less privileged kids > who might not even get any SQL in all four years of high school (!). > > The first stories I saw were about how the run-of-the-mill techie saw no > reason to weigh in i.e. why pick a side? > What is your opinion? Is FBI attacking the privacy of iphone users? Today the brazilian police arrested Diego Jorge Dzodan, Facebook Latin America VP. Police claim he disrespect a court order: provide whatsapp history of drug trafficking suspects. IMO brazilian police was totally overstated and overbearing. BUT, couldn't the Facebook collaborate with criminal investigations? The difference: Facebook indeed has access to the data in question. Apple did not. > > > Then came the heavy hitters like John McAffee and Gen. Hayden. > > An aspect of the story I see differently reported is: > > (A) when the passcode is miss-entered more than 10 times, the phone wipes > away its data (99% of the stories put it this way) > > (B) the phone doesn't have to wipe anything except the decrypt bits, > leaving the phone encrypted forever (1% put it this other way). [1] > > One might argue the difference between "erased" and "indecipherable" is > negligible, but as we were discussing "mental models" earlier this month, I > think it's an important distinction to make. > > The "erased" mental model leaves people understanding why the FBI couldn't > get to the data in that case: it's gone. The "forever encrypted" mental > model reminds people of something else: the data is still there, just the > code in uncrackable. > > A lot of father-knows-best types (e.g. Cyrus Vance) would like the public > to forget all about uncrackable codes. > > Were the algorithm in question RSA, we could say the phones owner needs > the passcode to get access to d, the secret complement of N, the public > key. [2] > > Even if I know my public key, forget about decryption of d is lost, and > that's a lot longer than 6 digits. Getting the passcode right is merely > giving d permission to do its work. > > I wonder how many evil sibs have deliberately miss-entered codes to > forever lock the other's phone. That'd be akin to tossing it under a bus > right? Tsk. [3] > > Kirby > > PS: I wonder who believes this paragraph (I don't): > > "It’s possible, of course, for authorities to physically open the phone, > pull out the computer chips and bombard them with lasers or radio > frequencies to get at the information they need. But experts aren’t sure > how much — if any — data would be lost in the process." [4] > > Sounds like BS to me. > For me as well. My question: Is the FBI able to clone the data (like a unix dd command)? Once the data is cloned, they can test as many as required passwords. When the system blocks the information, they can load the cloned data again. I apologize if I am talking nonsense. I really would like to know why the FBI is not able to do it (like CSI lol). > > [1] > https://stratechery.com/2016/apple-versus-the-fbi-understanding-iphone-encr… > > [2] > http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2006/05/rsa-using-pythonic-notation.html > > [3] > http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/a-hack-to-find-my-sisters-password-for-… > > [4] > http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2016/02/17/the-fbi-wants-to-set-a-leg… > > > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig(a)python.org > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig A secure communication system is like a weapon: for one is a right, for others is a danger, a well-meaning citizen can use and a terrorist (or child molester) too. +1 FBI team Juliano Fischer Naves

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