On Wed, Aug 29, 2018, at 7:06 PM, Waldman, Simon wrote: > Use notebooks, but take care to explain that python != the notebook, > similarly to explaining that git != github. I usually do a quick demo of several ways of running Python: Python REPL, IPython REPL, python my_script.py, notebook. I use the analogy that a Python program is like a videotape (yes I'm dating myself with the young'uns), the various ways of running it are like various tape players, each with different features etc, and the Python language is like the VHS format, as opposed to Betamax or others. I haven't systematically examined the results but anecdotally, I get lots of nods, and people are then comfortable to pick their favourite system. For example, I have seen people copying and pasting code from notebooks to an IPython prompt because they like that model better. Regarding the rest of the chatter on this thread, I think Chris Holdgraf said it best[1] on Twitter: "I think it's useful to think of the notebook as a communication tool that can be used for coding, rather than the other way around". And, in a conversation[2] with Gaël Varoquaux and Tal Yarkoni: "To your point about 'talking to your manager', I think this can be generalized to 'talking to people who are not developing code with you', which is probably the majority of people in data science. I don't use notebooks for software development, but I use them for most communications." In short: I was nodding (and laughing) in agreement with all of Joel's slides, but the talk misunderstands the purpose of notebooks. Juan.
Links: 1. https://twitter.com/choldgraf/status/1033972634730594304 2. https://twitter.com/choldgraf/status/1033335522230497281 ------------------------------------------ The Carpentries: discuss Permalink: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/T1505f74d7f6e32f8-M4fae7a8e02914a2f57f8eba0 Delivery options: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription
