[AstroPy] Python documentation (was IDL to Python Switchers Guide)

[Kelle Cruz]

Yep, I agree with James.  I think of "users" as folks who yes, will be
writing scripts, but mostly calling on the AstroLib routines to do both the
heavy lifting (interpolation, photometry, spectral extraction) and the
mundane (fits header manipulation, coord conversion, reading ascii tables).
Also, when I think of "users", I think of undergrads and grad students who
don't need to/can't/won't dig into things too much and, as James said, just
need to get things done quickly, efficiently, and hopefully effectively
without getting bogged down in the guts of the code. So when I say users, i
think the best translation for the folks on this list would be
"newbies"...ppl who may have even never edited their .cshrc before....

Based on the responses so far, it seems to make sense for the Switchers
Guide to stay on AstroBetter...especially since I'm the one doing most of
the editing at this point!  Which is fine...it's been a great way for me to
learn. I have an upcoming observing run and two long plane rides (with WiFi)
where I'll probably do another round of additions.  Any comments/suggestions
you have for the guide are welcome (off list).

kelle

On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 4:04 PM, James Turner <jturner at gemini.edu> wrote:

> In astronomy, lots of "users" will be writing scripts that dig pretty
>> deeply into what one might think of as "developer" territory, so I'm
>> not clear on where the line is...
>>
>
> It's not very well defined, but I'd consider developers to be the
> people who care about structuring code, using version control, writing
> tests and the overall quality of the end product -- those who will take
> the time to understand developer documentation as far as they need it
> to do the job properly. For "users", the bar has to be set pretty low
> in terms of explaining the basics and focusing on getting things done
> quickly. Just my 11 pesos.


-- 
Kelle Cruz, PhD
http://kellecruz.com/
424.645.1334
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