New Python implementation

[Alan Gauld]

On 16/02/2021 21:22, Tarjei Bærland via Python-list wrote:

> To me, it depends on what you want out of including programming in
> mathematics education.

That's a really important subclass distinction.
If programming is seen as an adjunct to math then the aims
can be simplified considerably since you are only interested
in pure computation. Things like networking, interfacing
to peripherals and the like can be ignored.
Likewise you probably don't care about creating large projects wit
multiple files etc.

With those constraints there are probably better languages
than python. You mention Logo and I had fun with that back
in the 80s and early 90s. But ultimately it wasn't suitable
for the kind of real-world programming I needed.

That's why I chose python for my tutorial. Its not only
teachable at a basic level but it is actually usable on
larger, real-world type projects once you've learned it.
You never need to throw away your skills.

> If the aim is to quickly get the students to "be creative" with
> programming by themselves, my feeling is that Python is too unwieldy for
> a beginner.

Don't underestimate the interactive prompt. It gives instant
feedback and is moire usable for beginners than most Lisp-style
REPLs.

Logo works too of course. But almost anything you can do in
Logo you can do almost as easily in Python. Be it list
handling or turtle graphics.

> minutes. They get the feeling of designing their own computational
> procedure much quicker than in Python. (Yes, of course, the introductory
> excercises in Python are a bit more advanced than "add two numbers".)

But they don't need to be. My tutor starts off with precisely that...

> I am honestly not sure what quite what my feelings are regarding this,
> perhaps Python is the best of all possible options.

Its a good compromise. Its got faults (see my other post!) but
I haven't found anything clearly better.

-- 
Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
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