[Edu-sig] Admiring 'Hello World!' (Manning)

[kirby urner]

I'm enjoying the state of the art with this one, am tempted to get the
PDF (there's a mail in coupon).  This father son team, Warren and
Carter Sande, explore Python 2.5 in dialog, taking plenty of time to
clear up confusions, not skipping over the odd bits, like integer
division, and the fact that we're naming, like taking, not stuffing
stockings (talking about variables) though we're quite open to
Stocking objects (however named).

The author "plays dumb" a little, wearing these "I know nothing about
the future" glasses in the opening readings, suggesting we get the
Python directly from Manning as if the future had never happened.
This is excellent design, as the Manning version comes with some other
goodies, is customized, is ready to run.  The preface explains it:  we
used to put a CD in the back, but these days publishers favor using
the Internet.  Yep, that's very true.

However, later on in the book, it's very clear the authors know
there's a Python 3.0, and they gently hint at some of the differences.
 There's no big deal about it, just a fun XX engineer with a bug in
her ear (in both ears apparently as it's there no matter which way
she's turned -- well illustrated).  The character that's really
original is grandma in bunny slippers, the former Pong queen, geek of
the old skool.  She remembers when we did it all in 7K.  We've all met
this guy at parties, but having her be a friendly grandma is a stroke
of genius I reckon.

At the BOF at the last Pycon I was proclaiming Pygame "pretty hard" in
the sense of "low level".  Which it is, floats just above that C++ SDK
whatever it's called, SDL right?  In contrast:  GameMaker, with a cult
following in Oregon.  We have play-offs, teams, a statewide festival.
The problem with GameMaker by itself is it's immersive, like Alice,
one of those "live in my own reality" twilight zones with no real
world applications.  Python, in contrast, is usable on the job.  So if
it's possible to dip into game-like experiences while developing as a
professional non-gamer, then why not?  I should have taken the hint
from Argentina, which is all about Pygame in some areas (or so I
recall -- a presence in Vilnius).

Speaking of Python and games, I was privileged to join the CPP party
in the nearby Softel and get my first experience with an xBox guitar
woo hoo, not bad after a couple Black Labels.  This is the company
behind one of those massively parallel online gaming communities, a
profitable business if you have loyal fans, based in Iceland.  This is
where Twisted comes into its own.

What people don't get about FOSS is how many companies use it daily
without thinking about it, deep in their internals, driving whatever
container shipping service, rental car agency, garbage collection
business.  Large conservative banks running on PostgreSQL aren't
breaking any laws in so doing.  Billions get made using FOSS every
day.

This is what finally hit home about Pycon.  These are happy camper
users of a great language, coming together to celebrate and share
tools, but most of the use cases come from private practice, academia
a new minority.  However, it's a growing minority, and quite welcome.
With help from Vern Ceder, we're looking at PyOhio as more of a model
for 2010, with floorspace set aside for posters, perhaps with judging.
 I've got another example of such a conference in my Photostream,
where I was invited back to update the ESRI community regarding
matters Pythonic.  Given this was a local crowd, city and county GIS
experts, I used the occasion to advance the "place based education"
agenda, but that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, back to 'Hello World!', I'm admiring towards its style, its
intelligent dialog based format, and its interesting drawings by
Martin Murtonen.  There's a lot of 'Head First' type thinking going
on, but that's a megatrend in technical writing more generally,
pioneered in part by the 'for Dummies' series, my friend Allen Taylor
the author of 'SQL for Dummies' (I always thought 'CORBA for Dummies'
sounded especially oxymoronic). I also appreciate having my name in
the acknowledgments, something to brag about ('Bucky Works' by J.
Baldwin is another tome I'm proud to have my name in).

Kirby