Homework help requested (not what you think!)

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 16 Jul 2013 15:43:45 -0700, John Ladasky wrote:

> The kids all claim to be interested.  They all want to write the next
> great 3D video game.  Thus, I'm a little surprised that the kids don't
> actually try to sit down and code without me prompting them.  I think
> that they're disappointed when I show them how much they have to
> understand just to write a program that plays Tic Tac Toe.

I morn the death of Hypercard :(

http://www.loper-os.org/?p=568

Using Hypercard was like using Lego. You could literally copy and paste 
buttons from one app to another -- not code, the actual GUI button -- to 
copy their functionality.


You could try Pythoncard:

http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/


> So, what I am seeking are suggestions for programming assignments that I
> can give to brand-new students of Python.  Please keep in mind that none
> of them are even up to the task of a simple algorithm like Bubble Sort
> -- at least, not yet.

Alas, I don't think there is *any* system for GUI programming that comes 
even close to what is needed to keep the majority of new students 
interested. But you might have some success with text-based games. Here 
are two suggestions:

- guess the number


- twenty questions ("is it bigger than a breadbox?")




You might also like to investigate Inform-7.

http://inform7.com/


-- 
Steven