[Edu-sig] Python as Application

[Arthur]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arthur [mailto:ajsiegel at optonline.net]


> Alex's trip to NY -  according to public information -  was focused on 
> recruiting for Google,  as  well as passing on some of his perspective on
> the Python object model.  Worth  mentioning here as it might help 
> educators >help their colleagues  understand 
> they are not leading the more practically minded astray in suggesting that
> Python has s real place in the curriculum.  Google is clearly becoming a
> very major force, and, clearly, Python is part of their strategy.\
 
Perhaps worth noting further that I missed the Martelli presentation because
when I went to register for it a good week before the event I learned that
they were oversubscribed, and registration had been closed.  Suspect that is
highly unusual for a NY Linux Users event. And the NY Linux Users Group is
not of the character that what some might think - their events normally held
at IBM's NYC headquarters ... not at an espresso café between beatnik poetry
readings. ;)

>...ubuntu becoming a major force  as a Linux distribution -

Worth noting that ubuntu has just come out with a companion edubuntu
distribution.  Haven't explored it yet.  I do know I have the goal of
getting PyGeo into it at some point - but that would mean getting myself
comfortable with PyGeo.  

Have gotten more than a little neurotic about it  I have been futzing with
it for the last 2 years and can't say exactly what I have accomplished.
Little concrete, but a significant improvements in the maturity of the
design in a wide variety of ways.   One of the things I *did* do is develop
my own kind of test suite - having come to understand the importance of
doing so, for a futzer.  On the other hand there isn't that there are
significant tests being passed now that wouldn't have been passed in an
earlier iteration.  The tests are there mostly as an assurance that my
refactoring does not have me going backward.  But offer no particular clue
about how to go forward.  So, my kneejerk reaction to test based development
is some fear that it would lead to a development style that makes passing
tests good enough.  On the other hand, I don't fully understand the workflow
that test based development recommends and where it leads.

When I do commercial work I have a pretty good idea where "good enough" is -
would the client (who doesn't really understand my process) want to pay for
further refinement (if they did understand my process).   When I come to a
"no" - I stop. It's never that there aren't further refinements that could
be accomplished.

PyGeo is largely exploratory in nature, and I learn something even from my
false starts - so I can't seem to find the "good enough".

Ramble... Ramble... Ramble...

Art  







> 
> short Microsoft, go long on Python.
> 
> Python on .Net I happen not to see as anything very significant - despite
> being a big fan of Jim Huginin's prior efforts (and suspecting that he is
> scary smart).
> 
> Not surprised, for example, to find on a quick check that the IronPython
> mailing list is pretty quiet.
> 
> I can see Python becoming an option on .Net, but would be surprised to see
> it become a real good option, except in limited circumstances.  Which is
> more a reflection on .Net than on Python.
> 
> Art
> 
> 
>