[Edu-sig] Introducing Python to Engineering Students

[Steven Bird]

We're considering this book for adoption in a second year programming
course for Engineers:

Numerical Methods in Engineering with Python by Jaan Kiusalaas
http://www.amazon.com/Numerical-Methods-Engineering-Python-Kiusalaas/dp/0521852870

Steven Bird
http://www.csse.unimelb.edu.au/~sb/

On 3/11/08, Warren Sande <warren.sande at rogers.com> wrote:
>
> David,
>
> For output graphics, you might want to have a look at Pygame.  It is a
> wrapper for the SDL library.  It has functionality for creating graphics
> windows, drawing, sprites, etc.  But what might be of interest for you is
> the simple set_at(x,y) method, to set the color of individual pixels in a
> window.
>
> I have found the Pygame documentation to be pretty good.
>
> Here is a simple example of plotting a sinewave using set_at()
>
> #-----------------------------
> import pygame, sys, math
> screen = pygame.display.set_mode([640,480])
> for x in range(0, 640):
>     y = int(math.sin(x/640.0 * 4 * math.pi) * 200 + 240)
>     screen.set_at([x, y],[255,0,0])
> pygame.display.flip()
> while True:
>     for event in pygame.event.get():
>         if event.type == pygame.QUIT:
>             sys.exit()
> #------------------------------
>
> Warren Sande
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: David MacQuigg <macquigg at ece.arizona.edu>
> To: edu-sig at python.org
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 10:28:21 PM
> Subject: [Edu-sig] Introducing Python to Engineering Students
>
> I've been asked to give an intro to Python for a freshman class with 150
> students at University of Arizona.  The class is taught in the Electrical
> and Computer Engineering Department, and is titled Computer Programming for
> Engineering Applications. The language is C (Hanly & Koffman, Problem
> Solving and Program Design in C).
>
> I think a nice way to do this will be an application where we can show the
> advantages of both languages - the computation of Mandelbrot images
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set.  Python will
> provide the high-level "glue" which brings everything together in a nice
> programming environment, and C will provide the raw power for the loop that
> actually computes the pixels.  My initial tests show this loop running about
> 100 times faster in C than in Python.
>
> The challenge is to do this without overwhelming the students.  The plan is
> to make everything as simple as possible, just follow the instructions,
> except the loop itself, which the students will write in C, based on what I
> have written in Python.  See
> http://ece.arizona.edu/~edatools/ece175/projects/mandelbrots/mbrotHW.html.
>
> Suggestions are welcome.  Has anyone done something like this before?  Can
> you improve on my code (I'm not a Python expert), or even suggest something
> entirely different?
>
> There is one major piece I would like to add to what I have so far - output
> graphics.  This demo would really be cool if the students could see these
> glorious images appear on their screen instead of an array of numbers.  I
> looked at the Python Imaging Library
> http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/index.htm, and I
> don't see any examples that I can work from in converting an array of
> numbers into an image, just a lot of dense reference material that assumes I
> already know these image data formats.  Maybe there is a simpler way.  Help
> from someone with experience in Python graphics would be most appreciated.
>
> -- Dave
>
>
>
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