Teaching Python

[Leif K-Brooks]

Mediocre Person wrote:
> So, what pitfalls should I look out for in introducing Python to 
> students who have had a year of Visual BASIC?

I was a Visual Basic programmer for a few months in 2002. It took me 
almost a year to recover. It is vaguely object-oriented, but its 
definition of objects are horribly warped; going to a genuine OO 
language after VB is a complete nightmare.

If at all possible, I would recommend changing the Visual Basic class to 
  RealBASIC (http://realbasic.com/). It's not perfect, but it has proper 
OO support, and would make the transition to Python much easier. Even 
better would be teaching basic Python to the VB class and more advanced 
Python to the 12th graders; Python's biggest strength is allowing 
beginners to use simple OO or even procedural techniques without ever 
noticing the advanced stuff like list comprehensions and metaclasses.