Kirby; I'll be waiting for this book. Sounds very interesting.
Guido On Dec 24, 2011, at 9:00 AM, edu-sig-requ...@python.org wrote: > Send Edu-sig mailing list submissions to > edu-sig@python.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > edu-sig-requ...@python.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > edu-sig-ow...@python.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Edu-sig digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. a Python title I'd like to see.... (idle fantasy) (kirby urner) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:27:19 -0800 > From: kirby urner <kirby.ur...@gmail.com> > To: edu-sig@python.org > Subject: [Edu-sig] a Python title I'd like to see.... (idle fantasy) > Message-ID: > <capjgg3s868lxuso94sjh6zkzzyudt_hgk_ue3pp3a8bvbx8...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > My idea of good Python lore would be an almost book length discussion, > at least, of the implementation of the "list" data structure. > > Go through the C in great detail, using this as an excuse to teach C > in the context of it's supporting a higher language, looking ahead for > your readers, knowing some of them will be heading off into C#, Java > and PyPy implementations, at least. Or have come from there. > > Talk about what testing looks like, when working on Python, and where > can I get the tests, how might I set up shop as a developer (of Python > and other things). > > One way is to read / compile / test the source code for Python itself. > That's a curriculum I've proposed several times and I'm sure many > have thought of besides me: cut your teeth learning Python and then > descend a level to a system language and begin studying the > implementation of Python in that language. > > You'll start to appreciate Python in ways you never have, and you'll > start learning what nitty gritty memory allocation looks like, and > "declarative languages" (not the technical term -- compile-time > checked, type audited, the whole nine yards). > > The thing is, you want your readers to be optionally following along, > doing their thing at the command line (fire up that gcc), meaning what > was "a book" is now this constellation of artifacts including > different versions of lessons depending on what kind of platform you > have. > > Compiling Python on Windows is not only doable, it's highly > successful, but exactly how is it done? Some readers would avidly > branch into that discussion, while others staying on a Mac (the > original Python was developed on a Lisa). > > You've been studying the list type, as a data structure, have delved > into the history, of linked lists, bubble sorts, clever algorithms, a > kinds of class computer science. Lots of names fly by, opportunities > to tell stories, fill us in. > > Obviously it'd take a talented writer, far beyond my ken, to tie this > into LISP and the whole theory of S-expressions and like that, a heavy > dose of formality, somewhere in the middle of the book. > > Make the list concept shine, but then come back to earth and have it > be one data structure among many. Python celebrates diversity, > heterogeneity, cosmopolitan values. The allure of crystalline purity > is thankfully muted in Pythonia. We don't need it to be "seamless". > > Because Python plays well with others, this is hardly just about > recruiting to Python. > > We want to demystify computers more generally and find a > not-dumbed-down dissection of the list type, in terms of C, and even > lower level languages (how does C work), is just what a certain > segment of the public was craving. > > A wild bestseller. New York Times Review of Books is all agush. "How > to think like a computer scientist on steroids...". > > Dunno who could write it. Might need to have interviews. Maybe not a > book at all. Direct to DVD? > > Kirby > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Edu-sig mailing list > Edu-sig@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig > > > End of Edu-sig Digest, Vol 101, Issue 10 > **************************************** _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
