[Pythonmac-SIG] a beginner's list

[Brendan Simons]

Some quick thoughts on previous posts:

Lou Pecora wrote:

> In addtion you are forgetting that we can have them install  
> TextWrangler (a no-brainer) and then run scripts from there.   
> Almost an IDE in some ways.  I work that way from BBEdit and it's  
> fine.  Write script, hit 'Run.'  Terminal window opens up.  Of  
> course, this does not address an interactive session ... or does  
> it.  I never tried that in BBEdit.  Possible?

Not in textwrangler, but wxPython comes with a nice interactive shell  
(with code completion!) "PyCrust".  It's built as a .app, so it  
installs and works like any other application on OS X  http:// 
prdownloads.sourceforge.net/wxpython/wxPython2.6-osx-docs- 
demos-2.6.2.1-macosx10.3-py2.4.dmg
As to the parent question, I was extremely happy learning Python in  
Textwrangler until I broke down and bought Komodo.  SPE is almost  
there, but still needs a binary install.  On the other hand, the  
terminal is already there on everyone's machine.

Christopher Barker wrote:

> BTW, "Open Terminal Here" is a nifty applet you can put in your  
> finder that you can click on, and a terminal window will open, and  
> cd itself to the directory that the finder is currently viewing.  
> It's clearly an ugly hack, but it does the job:

Here's another easy way to do the same thing:  Open the terminal.   
Type "ls" followed by a space, but don't hit return.  Now click on  
the finder and open the folder you want Terminal to access.  In the  
titlebar of the finder window, next to the folder's name, is a little  
folder icon.  Drag that icon to your terminal window (Expose helps if  
you have lots of windows open).  Terminal will spell out the folder's  
path for you.  Now return to Terminal and hit enter.

> However, I think a consensus is building:
>   -- define the Framework installer for 2.4 as the "standard" and  
> most supported python for OS-X. (the existing build for 10.3 and  
> the universal build for 10.4)
>   -- also provide at least a quick tutorial for newbies, based on  
> the built-in Python, and put a link to it near the top of the main  
> page.
>   -- At the end of that tutorial, give an explanation of why (and  
> when) one might want to install the newer build of Python for  
> further work.

I agree, but I would switch the order/emphasis.  The page should  
start with a "Try it yourself" link, where we show them how Python  
can let them do useful and interesting things out of the box.  Under  
that link, and at the end of the tutorial, you can have a "Get  
Better" link which details how to use framework python, easyinstall  
etc.   www.rubyonrails.org has the right idea.

Brendan
--
Brendan Simons


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