[Edu-sig] re: Pygeo, platforms, wx and Tk

[Kirby Urner]

> As mentioned, one of my most primary concerns regarding PyGeo
> at this point is packaging/distribution.  So in the absence of compelling
> reason to do otherwise, I will stick with the toolkit distributed standard
> with PyGeo.
> 

Bittorrent is an example of a popular application written in Python, used by
students everywhere, that sits on wx.  Distribution is easy.  Click to
download and install (I've only done this on Windows -- got my Mandrake 10.1
Official using it).

http://bittorrent.com/

>From the FAQ:

What language is BitTorrent written in?

    Python. And it uses wxWindows for its GUI.

http://bittorrent.com/FAQ.html


> But Guido should be made aware if he is not already - since his own
> writings on education contemplate utilizing 3d graphics - that OpenGL
> on Tk has become problematic
> 

Looks like someone named Mike Hartshorn was in charge of Tkinter bindings to
OpenGL:  http://pyopengl.sourceforge.net/pydoc/OpenGL.Tk.html

What I like about VPython is its *extremely* simple API.  Just a couple
pages of docs.  And yet there's a lot you can do with it (as Pygeo
demonstrates).

Do you see PyGeo as primarily aimed at teaching Python, or geometry, or both
or neither?  I think the surrounding curriculum, as well as the architecture
of the package itself, will hinge on this question in some respects.

Here's another question:  say two students have PyGeo installed.  Can
student A send student B a text file in "pygeo scripting language" that will
recreate some cool interactive exhibit, like those that come with PyGeo?  

In other words, are the scripts cleanly separable from the core engine, and
are they easily sharable as such, much as .py files get shared?  

If so, do PyGeo scripts have an extension, like .pg, and could we have
special syntax coloring for them in various popular editors like vim?

Kirby