On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 8:07 AM, Jeff Elkner <j...@elkner.net> wrote:
<< SNIP >> >> One of my disappointments with Python is that everyone seems to want to do >> their own thing rather that contribute to an ongoing project. So we have >> Ruby-on-Rails, instead of Web2Py, and at our local bookstore, more books on >> Ruby than on Python!! Forking makes sense when there is a significant >> improvement. Moving from Java to Python was significant. Python to Ruby is >> not. Having three websites for Python practice will probably end in three >> stalled efforts. Let's not let that happen. >> >> -- Dave I recall the Pycon at George Washington University where we got this excellent rundown of all the web frameworks in Python. Having such a flexible / agile language does encourage good ideas, a plethora, and that may be confusing to some. Out of this period of ferment, I think people learned a lot. Django is a good model for how things went. ORM is still very much in the picture. Powell's Technical in downtown Portland has about the same amount of shelf space for Python and Ruby books. I'm not especially alarmed by this. This isn't a game of putting other languages out of business so much as tending one's own garden. Both languages have their shortcomings and critics, and both have the potential to evolve further, in various directions. BTW, we've had a month's worth of lively debate on math-thinking-l while edu-sig has lain dormant. I recommend poking around. Gary Litvin of Skylit Publishing is an active contributor. You'll also find a bevy of functional programmers who would not be unhappy to see "object oriented programming" forever banned, or at least kept far away from any "math teaching" environment. This is an old debate. If you're up to using Math 2.0 web tools, there's a seminar on this very topic this evening you could attend. Here's Maria's blurb about it: """ ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Maria Droujkova <droujk...@gmail.com> Date: Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 7:29 AM Subject: Math Thinking meets Math 2.0 tonight, February 24th To: math-thinkin...@geneseo.edu I would like to invite you to an online event happening tonight at 9:30pm ET, in a public Elluminate webinar room provided by LearnCentral http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/Math+in+computer+science It is a part of the Math 2.0 Interest Group weekly series. The goal of the event is to get an overview of the history of Math in CS community, its projects, and major ideas. I will interview Pete Henderson about the group's history, and ask Rex Page some questions about The Teach Group. The webinars are generally open-microphone, with interview parts and general conversation parts. If you would like to contribute to the overview of the community, and make your voice heard (or your chat messages read), please do come! Cheers, Maria Droujkova http://www.naturalmath.com Make math your own, to make your own math. """ I'm planning to lurk at least, not sure if I'll say anything. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
