Hi everyone. This is my first post to the list but I have been reading through
the archives before joining.
Python is now the most popular programming language in UK schools in 11-18 age
group with something like 80% of GCSE Computer Science students now submitting
code for these exams (at age 16) in Python.
I have a love of Python and IDLE similar to that described by Al Sweigart in
his talk on re-imagining IDLE for education:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u58DiW_t2lM
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u58DiW_t2lM>
I have a similar background in that I write some books (codingclub.co.uk
<http://codingclub.co.uk/>) teaching Python as a first programming language
(usually after experiencing Scratch). My, very short, books are primarily aimed
at 10-14 year old and try to provide the foundations for students going on to
GCSE. I have very similar experiences to Al in my post bag. In addition, as an
11-18 year old teacher I run Code Clubs and teach Python more formally in
school. I see first hand the difficulties these young, average ability (as CS
is now compulsory for all students in the UK) students have starting their
first text based programming language. I also have one unusual quality for a
programmer that loves coding - I find it pretty difficult. This enables me to
empathise with these students. (Explanation - I am actually a Chemistry teacher
whose long-standing hobby has taken off in the last few years.)
In my opinion, as a self-taught Java programmer who has since looked at many
other languages, Python 3 is by far the best language to introduce text based
programming that is currently available. As Al mentioned in his talk, the easy
start up, the clear syntax and the lack of semi-colons and curly brackets, the
easy install on all major platforms and then immediately having the well-chosen
standard library available is awesome.
It is no surprise therefore that school children in the UK and increasingly
around the world are being asked to learn Python. I think they therefore
deserve, in addition to the best language, a fantastic IDE. Currently in my
opinion IDLE is the best for Python teaching as it is so clean and code
focussed. Nothing is perfect though and so I am in agreement with Al (and it
was why I first started reading this list) that it would be fantastic if IDLE
could be re-imagined with solely beginners in mind. I hope I will be able to
contribute positively if this idea is taken further.
It will be a tough call to provide the best IDE for beginners as there are so
many fantastic developments currently being undertaken. Al points to Scratch
and Code Academy. I would add one other example to Al’s list of developments we
could learn from - Greenfoot is currently being re-imagined here:
http://www.greenfoot.org/frames/ <http://www.greenfoot.org/frames/>
Best wishes
Chris Roffey
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