On Dec 31, 2007 12:13 PM, Kent Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm a bit surprised by this. I know I get quickly frustrated with
> technical presentations that don't get to some meat.
Yah. That.
At the same time, I can see where Jim is coming from. There's
simply no way you'll be able to comprehensively cover even the
fundamentals of Python in just 90 minutes of talk and Q&A. If people
want to learn the language, there are lots of good ways to do so,
including books, websites, classes, and -- of course! -- attending
PySIG meetings. We should not attempt to shoe-horn all that into one
meeting.
Perhaps the best approach would be to combine the "why" and the
"meat". Rather than just talking about why Python is so good, show
how it is so good, using real code. These could be short snippets
("See how easy it is to do common coding task X!") or full working
programs ("See how nice this Python program is!").
I second Jim's suggestion of providing a good list of websites and
books for more information, but I presume you were planning on doing
that anyway. A handout listing them would be a good idea. I can run
off copies cheaply if needed (email me if so). And email me the
electronic version and I'll post it on the website.
A quick (~ two minute) run through of a typical PySIG might be a
good idea. Be sure to mention the pre-1900 "beginner's session".
(And the cookies. ;-) )
I agree with Jim that how-to-download-and-install-Python be skipped
entirely. It's already installed on many systems, especially
installable on the rest. If someone has trouble, they can RTFM or ask
for help. Meanwhile, this is 5 minutes better spent elsewhere.
I'm adding gnhlug-org to the recipients of this message, because I
think we need more opinions. I was tempted to just add -discuss so we
can hear from the audience directly, but I didn't want to overwhelm
anyone with message traffic.
-- Ben
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