[Python-3000] educational aspects of Python 3000

[BJörn Lindqvist]

> > The idea of a standard edu library though is a GREAT one. That would
> > provide a standard place for things like raw_input() (with a better
> > name) as well as lots of other "helper functions" useful to beginners
> > and/or students -- and all it would cost is a single line of boilerplate
> > at the top of each program ("from beginnerlib import *" or something
> > like that).
>
> I disagree for two reasons:
>
> 1) Even a single line of boilerplate is too much
> when you're trying to pare things down to the
> bare minimum for a beginner.
>
> 2) It teaches a bad habit right from the
> beginning (i.e. using 'import *'). This is the
> wrong foot to start a beginner off on.

I agree. For an absolute newbie, Pythons import semantics are way, WAY
down the road long after variables, numbers, strings, comments,
control statements, functions etc. A third reason is that if these
functions are packages in a beginnerlib module, then you would have to
type "from beginnerlib import *" each and every time you want to use
raw_input() from the Python console.

-- 
mvh Björn