On Sun, Apr 19, 2009 at 9:49 PM, Scott David Daniels <scott.dani...@acm.org> wrote:
<< SNIP >> > But here is a learning opportunity as well -- too many students are > used to received wisdom, and assume there is nothing to discover. > To say that Python is in motion, that we have learned from our mistakes, > that we are forging a new way forward, and that they can be a part of > how to say things well in this new language is to begin to explain that > things are moving and they can be a part of that movement. > > One of the great disappointments from teaching my first computer science > class (operating systems) came after a lecture where I discussed some > of the publications going on about these new-fangled RAID systems. I > had students explain to me that a new way of organizing file systems > could not be as efficient as I described, because Microsoft and IBM > would be using such designs if they really worked. Students need to > know that not everything has been done. > > --Scott David Daniels > scott.dani...@acm.org Yes, excellent, my point as well. One of the benefits of being young and inexperienced is you're not ball-and-chained to legacy code written in some dino Python. The dinos aren't going away and Laura is 100% correct that many very good libraries will never move to 3.x, have no reason to, as their part of completed applications and we expect at least Poxis users to know how to do multiple Pythons (very easy command line alternatives upon installation, to herd snakes successfully). So it won't be either/or and we'll always have these older dialects to look at, should be up front as they're taking their seats the first day, about what the story is, in terms of this chasm, themselves on the smart side, others jumping up and down with their spears, still in caveman clothes, on the other side, with 2to3 and 3to2 lanes on our freeway bridge (like I-205 over the Columbia if you're local). But then some CS departments are probably all about 3rd party libraries, in cahoots with the Matplotlib subculture or whatever, which I have no problem with. If you're some hot jock Pythonista proud of your 3.x kung fu, and want a CS degree for icing on the cake, then phone ahead and see what it's like. You have enough knowledge going in, thanks to PPS, to ask such questions. Check prof pages, read the courseware. If none if it's open they're probably not into open source that much, and after a place like Portland, that'd be a real let down. I encourage more participation in Cubespace and Barcamps among the young Pythonic math grads I've sired over the years. I'll met one of the dads in the gym saying his son is all fired to go and what school around Portland is ready for such material. I can't think of any. Private companies, on the other hand, could put them to work, but mostly they're not legally old enough although that's not as problematic as it sounds given Saturday Academy, which does internships, support from Paul Allen. So yeah, learn Python 3.x out of the gate, then maybe go through SA: for a placement in some casino like where my CIO works. My thanks to all re GIS in Action conference slides, caught those font problems, look likes we're locked and loaded. Fun reading the Europython stuff, I'm always nostalgic. My talk tomorrow reuses many of the Gothenberg and Vilnius slides, which takes me back, plus as you've maybe seen from Blip TV, I tend to have my blogs going on another cube face (I rotate between desktops) where I'll likely as not have Photostream going as well, in case I wax autobiographical (which I do on occasion, part of exploring that lore axis I go on about...) plus in a real classroom setting we practice lightning talks, so it's my students who maybe get autobiographical, less onus on me. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
