Mu bundles Python 3...
I did not know that, and now I love it even more. Thank you!!! I do "intro to Python" workshops, and I *hate* the "setup environment" step; it chews up so much limited precious time. I've used mu for about 30 min about a month ago when I attended a 1 hour conference session: By Kattni Rembor CircuitPython is Python that runs on microcontrollers... Let me start a new thread about it happening again at PyOhio. back to mu - Yes, it is now my pick for editor to install and use. On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 10:11 AM, Nicholas H.Tollervey <ntoll@ntoll.org> wrote:
On 03/07/18 16:04, Andre Roberge wrote:
I do agree with what you write ... but, at the same time, I've been struggling to define appropriate categories. Some software can be designed for use by (young) adult beginners but not for young children. (For example: anything that will rely heavily on word menus ... say, like Microsoft Word.) I'm using the term hobbyists for this category. Other software can be designed to be used by young children. I did not see Mu being designed to be used in a CS 101 type of course. Perhaps I am wrong and should simply think of the target audience as "everyone" like I did for IDLE.... ?
Got it in one! :-)
Mu is for *anyone* who is a beginner programmer, no matter their age or background.
Mu is a *very small* code base (currently around 3.5kloc). However, the installers for Windows and OSX weigh in at around 100mb. Why? Because Mu bundles Python 3, Qt, Tkinter, Matplotlib, Numpy, Jupyter, PyGame, PyGameZero and a host of other things commonly used by those starting computing classes.
Why include all this stuff? Because (and I remember this from my university days) just being able to set up a dev environment on your own computer is a royal pain in the arse -- especially if you're a newbie. ;-) If the answer is "just install Mu, 'cos it's easy" then beginner data scientists immediately have a "first steps" IDE they can use to skill-up before they go figure out how to "pip install jupyter" and point their browser to the right place. ;-)
Does this make sense?
N. _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig