[Edu-sig] The Crunchy Way

[kirby urner]

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 3:44 PM, kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com> wrote:

<< SNIP >>

> Pywhip runs on a server, isn't about launching local processes or
> accessing one's local file tree.  It doesn't go out over the web and
> "eat" Python code segments in <pre></pre> tags.  It's more a
> repository of challenges, submitted from various sources, to a client
> looking for specific markup from external sites.

Sorry:  "... more a repository of challenges, submitted from various
sources, [not] a client looking..."

I've been blogging about Pycon in addition to posting here.  We're
having an edu-sig dinner this evening, plus I think there's a BOF.
I'll try to capture some of the discussion.

Good seeing Jeff (he's pumped about teaching algebra with Python).

Steve Holden says "dunder" for "under under" (i.e. "double under")
e.g. "dunder init" means __init__.

He's now heard my alternative, so say "the init rib", i.e. we thing in
terms of a "__rib__ cage", referring to special names.  This is a
metaphoric approach, first unveiled in Vilnius.  Steve booted Wing IDE
and used "code folding" to show all the __ribs__ as one-liners --
makes the "backbone" all the more obvious.

Using these "creaturely" metaphors is a hallmark of the early
curriculum.  Ships also have ribs, reinforcing the idea that a class
is a blueprint for a kind of "container" (an object space, like a
namespace in terms of having a __dict__ and so forth).

One of the best talks so far in addition to Andre's (for me) was by
Jeff Rush, helping us sort out the differences between a "namespace"
and a "code object".  I blogged about the talk in a sort of short
hand, but it's the slides themselves that I'm looking forward to
seeing again, very enlightning.

http://mybizmo.blogspot.com/2009/03/about-python-namespaces.html

I sat next to Jeff at the PSF meeting, yakked about how Portland and
Austin feel some affinity, because of the "Keep [ Portland | Austin ]
weird" campaigns.  I also confessed never having been to Austin.

http://controlroom.blogspot.com/2009/03/connected-campaigns.html

Kirby