5 ms·

I don't see that it is that much harder now. Boot your mac, open a terminal, type python, and start programming. Does it take one more step? Maybe, but it is

by turtle4 17y ago

I don't see that it is that much harder now. Boot your mac, open a terminal, type python, and start programming. Does it take one more step? Maybe, but it is a joke to say that is somehow more difficult.

swannodette 17y ago
Show me a tutorial on Python graphics on OS X that doesn't require installing an external library or learning about a really complicated graphics framework (Quartz 2D) and I'll believe what you just wrote. Apple basic graphics was one of two commands: GR or HGR
- stevejohnson 17y ago
  Your requirement that there be no external libraries is unfair. It's perfectly valid for a tutorial to start with "Download this package and run the installer," which is easier than any actual programming the reader might do. There are plenty of great tutorials for PyGame and pyglet. The main issue is that you have to open a terminal. If you look past Python, Scratch provides a very low barrier to entry for this sort of thing.
  - gloob 17y ago
    Your requirement that there be no external libraries is unfair. If the question being discussed is "How likely is an 8-year-old to randomly discover programming", it's not unfair in the slightest. Installation of anything is a huge barrier to discoverability.
    - whatusername 17y ago
      Random discovery is so difficult. If only there was an engine of some sort that we could search things with. We could call this engine of search - Bing!
- scott_s 17y ago
  But you had to learn about those from somewhere. That's no different, in practice, from today.
- samlittlewood 17y ago
  http://nodebox.net/code/index.php/Home http://nodebox.net/code/index.php/Home
- turtle4 17y ago
  Very well. See http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/resources/k12/index.html http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/resources/k12/index.html for a tutorial that demonstrates the use of the 'turtle' built in module in python. Turtle has a long history of being a simple graphical environment to introduce programming to young individuals, and that hasn't changed over the years. It would meet the original post author's requirements for graphing those simple functions. Assuming you are targeting those -slightly- older, pyglet would offer an incredibly simple way to progress, but would require you download one library, which I feel is a very reasonable requirement.

by turtle4 17y ago

swannodette 17y ago

Show me a tutorial on Python graphics on OS X that doesn't require installing an external library or learning about a really complicated graphics framework (Quartz 2D) and I'll believe what you just wrote. Apple basic graphics was one of two commands: GR or HGR

stevejohnson 17y ago
Your requirement that there be no external libraries is unfair. It's perfectly valid for a tutorial to start with "Download this package and run the installer," which is easier than any actual programming the reader might do. There are plenty of great tutorials for PyGame and pyglet. The main issue is that you have to open a terminal. If you look past Python, Scratch provides a very low barrier to entry for this sort of thing.
- gloob 17y ago
  Your requirement that there be no external libraries is unfair. If the question being discussed is "How likely is an 8-year-old to randomly discover programming", it's not unfair in the slightest. Installation of anything is a huge barrier to discoverability.
  - whatusername 17y ago
    Random discovery is so difficult. If only there was an engine of some sort that we could search things with. We could call this engine of search - Bing!
scott_s 17y ago
But you had to learn about those from somewhere. That's no different, in practice, from today.
samlittlewood 17y ago
http://nodebox.net/code/index.php/Home http://nodebox.net/code/index.php/Home
turtle4 17y ago
Very well. See http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/resources/k12/index.html http://cs.gettysburg.edu/~tneller/resources/k12/index.html for a tutorial that demonstrates the use of the 'turtle' built in module in python. Turtle has a long history of being a simple graphical environment to introduce programming to young individuals, and that hasn't changed over the years. It would meet the original post author's requirements for graphing those simple functions. Assuming you are targeting those -slightly- older, pyglet would offer an incredibly simple way to progress, but would require you download one library, which I feel is a very reasonable requirement.