[Edu-sig] Python as Application

[Lloyd Hugh Allen]

On 10/26/05, Arthur <ajsiegel at optonline.net> wrote:
> And what was Excel a virtual copy of?
> Art

I actually do have a copy of VisiCalc lying around, but I need a new
power supply for my Apple ][e so that I can run it
(http://oldapples.blogspot.com).

I find Excel (or the TI-83, or other spreadsheet tool) to be a decent
planning tool, and then once the project exceeds Excel's capabilities,
I turn it into a relational database in Python.

One huge thing to beware: Excel doesn't use the proper order of
operations -- it evaluates exponents from left to right rather than
from the top expression down. That is,

4^3^2 in Excel is (4^3)^2

where in Python,

4 ** 3 ** 2 is (properly) 4 ** (3 ** 2)

the moral of the story is that programmers should ALWAYS use
parentheses to avoid rude surprises.