Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-11 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
Frank Millman wrote: Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch wrote: In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Frank Millman wrote: Then you can mention that, if they just want the integer portion, they can use int(3/2). I think that most people with the slightest understanding of basic arithmetic will relate to this

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-10 Thread Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch
In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Frank Millman wrote: Why not think to the future, and do it like this. Instruct the reader to enter 'from __future__ import division'. You do not have to explain the details, just say that this is the way division will work in the future, and this statement will

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-10 Thread Frank Millman
Marc 'BlackJack' Rintsch wrote: In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Frank Millman wrote: Then you can mention that, if they just want the integer portion, they can use int(3/2). I think that most people with the slightest understanding of basic arithmetic will relate to this without a problem. Or

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-09 Thread Frank Millman
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: James wrote: On the calculator page you describe the difference between 3.0 / 2 and 3 / 2, but an absolute beginner probably wouldn't know about the difference between integers and floats, or even what the two terms meant. If you don't know much about computers

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-09 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
Duncan Smith wrote: But as you use conversions to float in order to avoid integer division in your code examples, it might be best to explain what's going on, even if you do have to explain the relevant types. I changed the comments in the first program that uses float() to: # The

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-09 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
Frank Millman wrote: We know that Python is in the process of changing the division operator. The main reason for the change is that the current approach is not intuitive to a newcomer (whether experienced or not). Why not think to the future, and do it like this. Instruct the reader to

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-09 Thread John Salerno
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: Duncan Smith wrote: But as you use conversions to float in order to avoid integer division in your code examples, it might be best to explain what's going on, even if you do have to explain the relevant types. I changed the comments in the first program that uses

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread malv
Looks pretty good, except for your difficult to read examples. Don't use black backrounds with green characters. A plain white background with black text would be a major improvement. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Bruno Desthuilliers
malv a écrit : Looks pretty good, except for your difficult to read examples. Don't use black backrounds with green characters. A plain white background with black text would be a major improvement. May I suggest a system like Trac-Wiki, that knows how to display Python code with

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread James
probably be surprising... James On 7 Apr 2006 12:45:48 -0700, Clodoaldo Pinto [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm starting a programming tutorial for absolute beginners using Python and I would like your opinions. http://programming-crash-course.com Regards, Clodoaldo Pinto -- http

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Bruno Desthuilliers
Clodoaldo Pinto a écrit : bill pursell wrote: (snip) 2) In the section on installing, you begin with: Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language.. The complete novice sees those words and expects them to be explained, but there is no definition given. I would

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
Bruno Desthuilliers wrote: Clodoaldo Pinto a écrit : bill pursell wrote: (snip) 2) In the section on installing, you begin with: Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language.. The complete novice sees those words and expects them to be explained, but there

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
James wrote: On the calculator page you describe the difference between 3.0 / 2 and 3 / 2, but an absolute beginner probably wouldn't know about the difference between integers and floats, or even what the two terms meant. If you don't know much about computers then the fact that they are

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread James
Perhaps use the phrase whole number there and mention that in programming they're called integers. Having a glossary with definitions for things like integer, float etc etc. would be good if when you talked about integers it linked to the glossary. And similarly use decimals for floats? Less sure

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread John Salerno
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: Python is a remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. Python is often compared to Tcl, Perl, Ruby, Scheme or Java. Some of its key distinguishing features include:... I'd be careful with that definition for

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Duncan Smith
James wrote: Perhaps use the phrase whole number there and mention that in programming they're called integers. Having a glossary with definitions for things like integer, float etc etc. would be good if when you talked about integers it linked to the glossary. And similarly use decimals for

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
John Salerno wrote: Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: Python is a remarkably powerful dynamic programming language that is used in a wide variety of application domains. Python is often compared to Tcl, Perl, Ruby, Scheme or Java. Some of its key distinguishing features include:... I'd be careful

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread James
If you're serious about this being a real introduction for someone who knows nothing, then you might want to start off by explaining what a programming language is (and why there are more than one) and then what a standard library is - perhaps explain it in terms of a large set of tools you can

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
Duncan Smith wrote: James wrote: Perhaps use the phrase whole number there and mention that in programming they're called integers. Having a glossary with definitions for things like integer, float etc etc. would be good if when you talked about integers it linked to the glossary. And

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-08 Thread Duncan Smith
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: Duncan Smith wrote: James wrote: Perhaps use the phrase whole number there and mention that in programming they're called integers. Having a glossary with definitions for things like integer, float etc etc. would be good if when you talked about integers it linked to the

Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
I'm starting a programming tutorial for absolute beginners using Python and I would like your opinions. http://programming-crash-course.com Regards, Clodoaldo Pinto -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread bill pursell
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: I'm starting a programming tutorial for absolute beginners using Python and I would like your opinions. http://programming-crash-course.com Very nicely laid out. Overall, a really nice presentation. 2 minor points: 1) in the section on the interactive interpreter you

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread John Salerno
bill pursell wrote: 1) in the section on the interactive interpreter you have the sentence: In Linux open a shell and type python (must be lower case). It would be nice if the word 'python' were in a different font, or perhaps codepython/code would be good there. 2) In the section on

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
bill pursell wrote: 1) in the section on the interactive interpreter you have the sentence: In Linux open a shell and type python (must be lower case). It would be nice if the word 'python' were in a different font, or perhaps in quotes, or something. You're targetting the absolute beginner,

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread Clodoaldo Pinto
John Salerno wrote: Also, is the section called pretty printing mistitled? Doesn't that name refer to the pprint module? I didn't think about pprint. I used pretty in the sense of Pleasing or attractive in a graceful or delicate way. (dictionary) If you have any suggestions for that page's

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread Podi
For tutorial in Windows, I think it is better to use the more user-friendly interpreter from http://activestate.com/store/languages/register.plex?id=ActivePython. Advise the user to just click on the Next button without submitting the optional contact information. My $0.02 --

Re: Programming Tutorial for absolute beginners

2006-04-07 Thread John Salerno
Clodoaldo Pinto wrote: John Salerno wrote: Also, is the section called pretty printing mistitled? Doesn't that name refer to the pprint module? I didn't think about pprint. I used pretty in the sense of Pleasing or attractive in a graceful or delicate way. (dictionary) If you have any