language learning vs. process

[David MacQuigg]

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 12:39:11 +0800, "Posadas, Dennis"
<dennis.posadas at intel.com> wrote:
[...]
>To some extent Ryan may be right. Let's not get overboard 
>however and even have directions on how to turn on the computer.
>We can strike a balance somewhere.

I would not worry about going "overboard" for beginners, as long as it
doesn't distract users who are beyond that stage.  Python had its
beginnings as a language for "everyone", meaning liberal arts majors,
and others who might be new to computers.  It is still the best
language for that purpose, especially for students who might go on to
more serious programming.

We could avoid the distraction, and also help folks like the OP find
the right stuff, by better organization of the materials that are
already available, and perhaps adding one item, a beginner's page,
where we can share code snippets, clarifications of difficult points,
etc.

When you look now at www.python.org, you see some nicely organized
links, including "Beginner's Guide"  Clicking on that link takes you
to a full page of links with a brief description of each.  So far, so
good.

Clicking on the "Examples and Sample Code" link takes you to a very
sparse page with three links, including a Google search, the Python
Cookbook, and the Python Standard Library.  At this point, the
beginner might start to feel overwhelmed.  What we need is a bunch of
*simple* examples, organized by topic, and searchable by keyword or
author, and contributed by the people who care the most about these
things, beginners who have just learned something interesting and
would like to share it.

Maybe this exists already, and I have just not found it.  I must
confess, I haven't done a thorough search.

--Dave