The DFW Pythoneers meet, at nerdbooks.com (a local bookstore), with our laptops for hands-on Python programming on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month. As we progress, we'll be focusing on Extreme Programming techniques, re pair programming, version control, unit testing and so forth. Represented are users of Linux, MacOS and Windows, in a variety of skill levels so if you are thinking of getting into programming, come along. This Saturday is 4th Saturday and we'll be doing it again. AGENDA LAST TIME: Last time we had 7 people show up, got connected to the Internet and learned about using the Subversion version control software, while sharing a single piece of Python source we each modified and passed to others thru the repository. It was a lot of fun to be making changes, do an update and see the work of others appear. AGENDA THIS TIME: Since we have a lot of beginner Python programmers, this time I'd like to start with an hour of presentation on the datatypes and basic control structures of Python. And then hands-on producing some simple programs that introduce certain Python concepts. For example, (1) a program that copies a file given on the command-line, to introduce file I/O and command-line arguments. Then (2) modify it to count the number of lines, to cover line I/O and lists, and then (3) modify it to count the number of matches against a string or regular expression provided as a new command-line argument, to bring in string operations and REs. If there is still time, we can cover the "optparse" module for advanced command-line parsing. Suggestions are welcome but I thought during this initial stage, we'd pick 3-4 commonly-used modules from the Python library each session and explore how to use them. For those more advanced in Python, please come also. Let's pair up with others on projects of common interest and use these Saturdays as working sessions. WHERE and WHEN? You can find directions to Nerdbooks at www.nerdbooks.com. We meet from 2:00pm to 5:00 pm. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: And further information about mailing lists and such at: http://python.taupro.com/ I'd also like to ask those planning to participate in the coding sprints to prepare their laptops with the necessary software, to save time. Details are on the wiki at: http://python.taupro.com/SprintingSetup As we meet to begin some projects, I'll give out write-access passwords. The repository is publically readable so everyone can watch the projects. Also, if you can bring along extra power strips, ethernet cables, and perhaps even a folding table or two. Jeff Rush, DFW Pythoneers Coordinator