New VPython mouse and keyboard capabilities

[Bruce Sherwood]

VPython (http://vpython.org) consists of Python plus the Visual
module originally developed by David Scherer plus the idlefork
version of IDLE initiated by Scherer. This environment makes it
easy even for novices to write programs with 3D animations.
A sizable suite of demo programs is included. There is extensive
documentation.

The secret to ease of use is that 3D graphics come
as a side effect of computations: compute a change in the
position or color attribute of an object such as a sphere or
box, and a parallel thread automatically renders the altered
scene.

VPython-2001-12-21 has just been released for Python 2.2 on
Windows, including new facilities for handling the mouse and
the keyboard. New versions for Linux and Mac are in the works.

VPython is used by students in an introductory physics course
to do serious computer modeling of physical systems. After
just 1-2 hours of instruction, they are able to model a binary star
system, even if they had never written a program before.
By the end of the year they are able in about an hour to model
in 3D a traveling electromagnetic wave and the motion
of a relativistic positron acted on by the traveling electric and
magnetic fields.

At some colleges where Python is the (excellent) choice for the
language taught in introductory programming courses, VPython
is part of the curriculum, because making 3D animations is
highly motivating, and it makes visible the notion of an "object".

Bruce Sherwood

<P><A HREF="http://vpython.org">VPython-2001-12-21</A> - 3D Programming for 
Ordinary Mortals.  (21-12-2001)