[Tutor] Topic focus of ‘python-tutor’ (was: mySQL and Python)

[James Chapman]

Long-ish reply, but please bear with me.

To quote the list description "This list is for folks who want to ask
questions regarding how to learn computer programming with the Python
language and its standard library."

While MySQL modules are not part of the standard library, consider the
following scenario.

A person, let's call him Xerxes, is interesting in learning to program in
Python. So he does a whole lot of reading, asks a load of questions on this
list, he learns the basics. He now thinks to himself, wow, it would be
really cool if I could actually do something really useful with my new
skill set, maybe he has a job where building an interface to a database
would save him and his company a lot of effort, but as MySQL is not part of
the standard library he's not really sure how to go about it. Since people
on the tutor list have always been willing to help and offer assistance, he
thinks, I'll ask there. He asks his question and almost immediately gets
told that what he's asking is off topic for the list. Let's jump back to
the list description for a minute there. "This list is for folks who want
to *ask questions regarding how to learn computer programming with the
Python language* and its standard library." Is the installation and usage
of 3rd party modules not related to learning to program with python?

By responding in that manner, you're discouraging the asking of questions.
No one should *_EVER_ *be discouraged to ask a question they do not know
the answer to. That response that I referred to in my initial response is
very common on this list and I think we (collectively) could and should
come up with a better way of pointing people in the direction of
satisfactory resolution. I also don't think we should immediately point
people else where when the question is outside our comfort zone. OO,
inheritance and multi-byte string processing, to name a few, are part of
learning to program but are easily more advanced topics than which MySQL
module to use. Creating C data structures in python, while part of the
standard library, is an example of a topic that is probably too advanced
for this list, and even then, I managed to find someone on this list able
to help with that topic.

If we discourage people from asking more interesting questions then I
suspect that many subscribers will stop subscribing and that knowledge will
be lost.

I subscribe to quite a few programming related mailing lists and let me
tell you, this one is _BY_FAR_ the most willing to help. That question
would very likely have been ignored on other "more advanced" lists.

Finally, I realise I've offered some criticism but not a suggestion for an
alternative, so here is an example of a response to a question that would
be considered "outside the scope" of this list:


Hi Xerxes

Great question. I know there are many options when it comes to MySQL but
I've not had any experience with any. Someone else on this list might be
able to provide a satisfactory answer, but, as the main focus of this list
is learning to program in python using the standard library you might not
get an answer, and if you do, the answer might not be very knowledgeable.
You could try asking your question on forum X or mailing list Y as these
types of topics are often covered there.

James