[IAEP] [support-gang] Quick Question

[James Simmons]

Caryl,

I have been a Mac owner for a little over a week now and have done
development on the Mac for the iPhone and iPad.  The IDE that Apple provides
is called Xcode and it is free in the Apple Store.  I've never tried it with
Python, but it is a decent editor if nothing else.  You might have to be
careful with indents.

As a Linux user I'm spoiled when it comes to development tools.  Amazingly
good tools are a checkbox click away for Python or any number of other
languages.  A lot of these tools could run on a Mac but you need to install
something called Mac Ports and maybe compile things from source code.  The
Mac is not a congenial environment for developers, in my opinion.  In
contrast Linux practically begs you to write programs for it.

Eclipse is available for the Mac and has a Python plugin available.  It runs
as a Java app, so you'd need to have Java installed.  It would take a lot of
fooling around to get this installed and working on a Mac.

If you really want to learn Python and develop Activities you need a Linux
box.  I have two of them I'm not using and if there was a cheap way to get
one to you I'd give you one of them.

James Simmons

On Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 11:51 PM, Caryl Bigenho <cbigenho at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  Hi Sebastian,
>
>
> Thanks for the reference to "A Byte of Python."  I had it downloaded on my
> computer... on the hard drive that had a fatal crash on the ferry from
> Montevideo to BsAs.  I guess I had better download it again onto the new
> hard drive.  It sounds like it has the info I need to get started.
>
>
> I was hoping I could just use the Khan Academy videos to get a running
> start on Python.  I figured since I used to be pretty good at programming in
> the old languages (Fortran, BASIC, and Pascal) that it would transfer easily
> to Python once I got all the terms and syntax down.
>
>
> Then I ran into a wall... the need for an editor.  I just need a simple,
> easy to install and use editor and everyone was very helpful in suggesting
> things, but none were what I would classify as easy to get started on.  Oh
> well, I kept telling Adam there were no shortcuts to learning a language
> (Spanish), I guess this applies to computer languages too!
>
>
> Yes, Christofer is pretty amazing.  I didn't actually meet him when we were
> there, but I have followed his progress and accomplishments with interest.
>
>
> Thanks again for the suggestion... now I'm going to download Byte of
> Python, then I guess I'll go for DrPython.
>
>
> Caryl
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2011 06:50:42 +0500
> From: sebastian at somosazucar.org
> To: cbigenho at hotmail.com
> CC: support-gang at lists.laptop.org; iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org;
> quozl at laptop.org
> Subject: Re: [IAEP] [support-gang] Quick Question
>
>
> I was going to recommend DrPython and found this document, a chapter of the
> book "A Byte of Python":
>
> *
>  "Choosing an editor
>  Before we move on to writing Python programs in files, we need an editor
> to write the 'source' files. The choice of an editor is crucial. You have to
> choose an editor as you would choose a car that you want to buy. A good
> editor will help you write Python programs easily, making your journey more
> comfortable and helps you reach your destination (achieve your goal) in a
> much faster and safer manner.
> One of the basic requirements of a good editor is syntax highlighting where
> all the different parts of your program are colorized so that you can see your
> program and visualize how it will run. This also means that you should avoid
> Windows Notepad especially because it doesn't support indentation.
> Indentation means neatly formatting the program with the use of whitespace
> (spaces and tabs) at the beginning of the line to make it easy to read the
> program. We will soon learn why indentation is important in Python.
> There are various development environments<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments>
>  and many editors for Python<http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/PythonEditors>
>  available. In order to keep things simple, I recommend using the DrPython
>  development environment. It is pronounced as doctor-python. It is called
> a development environment since you can edit, run and manage Python programs
> completely within DrPython. An interesting note is that DrPython itself is
> written in Python.
> First, we shall install DrPython."
>
> ** He proceeds with instructions to install on all three major platforms:
>
> http://dsnra.jpl.nasa.gov/software/Python/byte-of-python/output/byteofpython_html/choosing-editor.html
>
> Incidentally, Christofer, the boy I think you and I met in Montevideo,
> sugarized DrPython, so it works well with the XO as well:
> http://activities.sugarlabs.org//es-ES/sugar/addon/4427
>
> *These uruguayan kids never cease to amaze me.
>
> Regards,
> Sebastian
>
> El 06/08/11 05:49, Caryl Bigenho escribió:
>
>  *Hi...*
> *
> *
> *I must be doing something wrong:*
> *
> *
> >>> idle
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> NameError: name 'idle' is not defined
> >>>
> *
> *
> *This is where I am in Terminal:*
> *
> *
>  Python 2.7.2 (v2.7.2:8527427914a2, Jun 11 2011, 14:13:39)
> [GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5493)] on darwin
> Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>
>  *Caryl*
>
>  > Date: Sat, 6 Aug 2011 09:34:25 +1000
> > From: quozl at laptop.org
> > To: support-gang at lists.laptop.org
> > CC: iaep at lists.sugarlabs.org
> > Subject: Re: [support-gang] Quick Question
> >
> > In Terminal, type idle and press enter. You get Python's own editor,
> > with a Python shell that you can type into as well.
> >
> > --
> > James Cameron
> > http://quozl.linux.org.au/
> > _______________________________________________
> > support-gang mailing list
> > support-gang at lists.laptop.org
> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/support-gang
>
>
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