* bartc:
"Alf P. Steinbach" <al...@start.no> wrote in message
news:hc8pn3$dd...@news.eternal-september.org...
[Cross-posted comp.programming and comp.lang.python]
I may finally have found the perfect language for a practically
oriented introductory book on programming, namely Python.
C++ was way too complex for the novice, JScript and C# suffered from
too fast-changing specifications and runtime environment, Java, well,
nothing particularly wrong but it's sort of too large and unwieldy and
inefficient.
I don't know whether this will ever become an actual book. I hope so!
But since I don't know much Python -- I'm *learning* Python as I write
-- I know that there's a significant chance of communicating
misconceptions, non-idiomatic ways to do things, bad conventions,
etc., in addition to of course plain errors of fact and understanding
in general, to which I'm not yet immune...
So I would would be very happy for feedback.
Have you ever done technical writing before? With positive feedback?
Yes, and yes.
You use the highly commercial-looking activatestate website; what's
wrong with www.python.org?
I guess "commercial looking" is something negative.
Please note regarding the question: I'm not a telepath. I don't know what you
think is wrong with [www.python.org]. And I have no interest in evaluating the
site for you, at least not unless you pay me for that job.
You say elsewhere that you're not specifically teaching Python, but the
text is full of technical details specific to both Python
Yes. A programming language is required to do programming. Can't do without it,
sorry.
and Windows,
not much actual programming!
Hm. There's /only/ programming in there and nothing else so far. But given that
you think programming can be done without a programming language, I hypothesize
that there is something to learn for you about what programming is. :-)
Python has a lot of baggage which is OK if that's what's going to be
used, but otherwise is unnecessary confusion: where to put the program
code (typed in live or in a file, or some combination); whether to call
the file .py or .pyw; the difference between console and graphical
programs and so on.
Well.
Cheers & hth.,
- Alf
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