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Not sure how helpful this advice is for students I'm in my late 30's have programming experience but had never touched Python until about 6 months ago. What ma

Not sure how helpful this advice is for students I'm in my late 30's have programming experience but had never touched Python until about 6 months ago. What made Virtual environments work for me was switching to a different Editor. I use Visual Studio Code currently it works well with Virtual Environments. When you first create a new python file in a given "project folder" it prompts you to create a new Venv and when you switch project folders it remembers and restores the Venv for each project. One of my work colleagues pointed me to VSCode - it streamlined a lot of python things for me. If your students are disciplined about creating a new folder for each project managing virtual environments vscode could help them. Only issue I have is my work office has a corporate proxy setup and pip needs certificate to connect (and if I work remotely I have to turn this setting off) I wrote a shell script to toggle between the two proxy settings. Not sure if university will have the same issue proxy issues but if so this would certainly be a pain point for many students.

promer 2y ago
This is a suggestion that deserves serious consideration. I started using VS Code after I had learned all the basics so I don't know what it feels like to be a new learner who is getting started by using VS Code. But it sounds like it worked for you. (And on campus, the proxy should not be an issue.) It does answer the question of which text editor to use when the time comes to teach them about editing text files. For a course, it helps that it is free and available on both macOS and Windows. I have a vague recollection that at some point I was testing without an install of Python and after I selected the Python extension for VS Code, it offered to install one for me. (I don't recall if this was on macOS or Windows and memory could be playing a trick on me.) But in any case, the people behind VS Code do seem to be trying very hard to make it easy for someone who is getting started. I am a little uneasy about the nudges to use Copilot, but on balance, it might offer a better path for students who are getting started.

promer 2y ago

This is a suggestion that deserves serious consideration. I started using VS Code after I had learned all the basics so I don't know what it feels like to be a new learner who is getting started by using VS Code. But it sounds like it worked for you. (And on campus, the proxy should not be an issue.) It does answer the question of which text editor to use when the time comes to teach them about editing text files. For a course, it helps that it is free and available on both macOS and Windows. I have a vague recollection that at some point I was testing without an install of Python and after I selected the Python extension for VS Code, it offered to install one for me. (I don't recall if this was on macOS or Windows and memory could be playing a trick on me.) But in any case, the people behind VS Code do seem to be trying very hard to make it easy for someone who is getting started. I am a little uneasy about the nudges to use Copilot, but on balance, it might offer a better path for students who are getting started.