[Edu-sig] Top 5 All Time Novice Obstacles => #2 Helping help

[Guido van Rossum]

> When Novice Pythonistas get to steps 5. and 8. above, surely Python
> can help by jumping in with help(os.lstat)?

I've tried to stay out of the artificial intelligence business.  I
think what you're asking for is a separate "newbie shell" that takes a
*much* more careful look at what you're trying to do, and provides
help accordingly.  That would be a great project.  But one or two
tweaks to Python or IDLE ain't gonna do it.  It *seems* simple on the
surface -- until you realize that you get the same errors all the time
for different reasons.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)