> When teaching Python to beginners and using IDLE, it seems that one of the > dangers would be to have them assigning variables in the interactive mode > and then maybe using them in a script they're writing. Then, when they > run > the script, the variable is still in memory so the program works--for now.
I run into this a lot, and I find that it's very very difficult to explain what's going on to kids who are just getting their feet wet. > Provided you start IDLE in the "normal" mode, running scripts should > execute > in a separate subprocess, so the kinds of interactions you describe here > are > not really a problem. When running in this mode, you can also do a > "restart" > under the shell menu, and this will get you a fresh interactive > environment. > > The problem is that the default IDLE setup in some environments starts up > IDLE > with the -n switch that causes it to run without separate subprocesses for > scripts. For example, under Windows, if you right-click on a Python > program > and then select "edit with IDLE" it will open in the no-subprocess mode. I > always have my students create a shortcut to IDLE in their working > directories and make sure it starts IDLE without the -n switch, and I > emphasize starting IDLE and then loading programs. The problem that I run into is that the livewires graphics package doesn't behave properly unless the -n is used. Here's a link with some background: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/2005-November/005583.html I think I've run into other packages that also have problems but livewires is the one I'm sure about. This has been a real problem for me. Andy _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
