On Wed, 26 Oct 2005, Beni Cherniavsky wrote: > On Sun, 2005-10-23 at 00:03 +0200, guy keren wrote: > > i started writing a reference manual for the python course (not that > > anyone here seems to care, > > I do.Never attribute to malice what can be explained by being > busy :-).
since the time is pressing now - "busy" and "no interest" look the same to me :P~~ > > but i felt like giving it a last try), and > > added it on my quite-temporary page. just to give a basic idea of how i > > want it to look. > > > > http://users.actcom.co.il/~choo/python/python-for-school-reference.htm [i cannot quote your unicode, so i'll answer without quoting] regarding use of 'for' instead of 'while': consider: for i in range(1,10): this construct uses two seperate notions - ranges for for loops. while i < 10: this construct uses one notion - while loops. when you teach new things, you should teach them one at a time. so i'd rather teach them while loops, let them get the hang of loops, and only then teach about for loops and xrange. this looks better to me, from a teaching point of view. regarding counting from 0-9: it's too early to start confusing them with this - let them first grasp the issue of loops. regarding teaching lists - i think i missed this issue in the course plan - i will add a mini-lesson about lists, range/xrange and 'for' loops. regarding teaching lists before loops - i want them to be able to write something "useful" already on the first practice lesson. just writing serial commands would be boring - and i don't want to teach about variables, expressions, lists and loops all at once. regarding input() vs. raw_input() - firefox shows me your text quite confused - so i didn't understand what you favor - input() or raw_input(). thanks, -- guy "For world domination - press 1, or dial 0, and please hold, for the creator." -- nob o. dy
