[Pythonmac-SIG] Mac User Python Newbies

[Michael Hudson]

Troy Rollins <troy.rollins at gmail.com> writes:

> I for one, don't care to think of myself in the context of "begger",
> but more so in the context of uninitiated contributor. If developers,
> new to python, have a barrier to entry, they may well walk of to Ruby,
> or Lua... etc. At some point, I'd like to be contributing to the
> effort, but just getting off the ground is a bit daunting.

I may be missing details from earlier posts, but what is currently
daunting you?  Have you looked at the Python tutorial or the PyObjC
tutorial, to pick two simple examples?

> Obviously, it is doable, since lots of folks work in it every day,
> but how many have peaked in and turned and left without saying a
> word? Out of that number, how many may have evolved into providing
> some contribution? It isn't up to the members of this list to fix,
> or at least isn't a "responsibility", but it is an issue which also
> shouldn't simply be dismissed, I think.

I hope you don't get the idea that this is being dismissed.

> I think if there is some governing body for Python, it should very
> much be paying attention to this issue, and recognizing that it is
> perhaps one of the most important aspects of maintaining and
> furthering the language... new developers. Many of which would
> prefer to get started (at least) within the relative controlled
> environment of an IDE.

However, it probably is a good deal less effort to explain to
newcomers how to get going without an IDE thatn to write one.
Especially writing an IDE that would be noticeably more correct than
my current Emacs/Terminal/interactive Python setup.

Cheers,
mwh

-- 
  Lisp nearing the age of 50 is the most modern language out
  there. GC, dynamic, reflective, the best OO model extant including
  GFs, procedural macros, and the only thing old-fashioned about it 
  is that it is compiled and fast.   -- Kenny Tilton, comp.lang.python