[Edu-sig] In praise of VPython

[Arthur_Siegel@rsmi.com]

Having instigated some unpleasantness on the list, I feel some special
obligation, perhaps, to try to be as loud about what I see as positive 
developments as I have been about what I see as negative.

To those who might see it as OT, my apologies.

VPython is exciting.

The more I understand its design, intentions, and implementation
the more appreciative I become.

Jason Cunliffe had tried to give me a clue that I was missing something.

I had been guilty of selling it short as another Python scripting add-on
to a graphic C/C++ app/renderer.

In fact it is what its original name implied it was going to be - visual
Python.  Designed out of of the box by folks with a deep understanding
and appreciation of Python and Numeric. Having gotten used to working 
with Python add-on scripting and having to write contorted Python to get the 
results
I was looking to achieve , it took me a while to catch on to the fact that
all VPython needs and wants is good, concise Python - no backbends
necessary.

For example, the complete "from scratch" construction of a beautfully rendered

sphere from a VPython demo (there is a sphere primitive, the following
actually being the pedagogical long way around in VPython)

 from visual import *

 L = [ ]
 for t in arange(0,2*pi,0.2):
                   for s in arange(0,pi,0.1):
               L.append((cos(t)*sin(s), sin(t)*sin(s), cos(s)))
 convex(pos=L, color=(0.5,0,0.5))

Concise mathemathical notation for an analytical sphere, and
at the same time the sphere itself - again,, beautifully rendered. 

>From my take, much of what I had hoped to see achieved in concrete form in
connection with edu-sig comes together with the existence VPython. 

Hope those out in the field - teachers designing Python based curriculum -
begin to take advantage of what it has to offer.

ART