[Tutor] Apprenticeships

[Malcolm Newsome]

Hey group,

I have a bit of a non-technical question.

I've seen quite a bit recently about the rise of software 
apprenticeships. As a self-taught developer, this looks quite appealing 
for a number of reasons.  I'm wondering if anyone in the group knows of 
any apprenticeships (or, if not a formal apprenticeship, a shop that's 
looking for a very self-motivated Junior Dev that is quite eager to 
learn, contribute, and be mentored).

I apologize if this is an improper request for this forum.

Many thanks in advance!

Malcolm Newsome
malcolm.newsome at gmail.com <mailto:malcolm.newsome at gmail.com>





On 09/29/2012 06:16 PM, tutor-request at python.org wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
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>     1. Re: Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions (Oscar Benjamin)
>     2. Re: Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions (Alan Gauld)
>     3. Re: Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions (Oscar Benjamin)
>     4. Re: Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions (Brett Ritter)
>     5. Re: generic repr method? (Oscar Benjamin)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:20:46 +0100
> From: Oscar Benjamin <oscar.j.benjamin at gmail.com>
> To: Jim Apto <jimmyapt0 at gmail.com>
> Cc: tutor at python.org
> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAHVvXxQjQzf74NWHFhB7vOvR5o0-s0pyyVtYZuMf+LZxqu5h0g at mail.gmail.com>
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>
> On 28 September 2012 21:32, Jim Apto <jimmyapt0 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello folks,
>>
>> I'm relatively new to python, and was asked to program a lotka-volterra
>> model (predator and prey relation) simulator.  The program basically will
>> basically have a menu that takes user input, collect data, and then create
>> a graph.  Currently i've been working on the simulator section; I can't
>> seem to get the lists right.
>>
> Jim, I apologise if the responses to your original post seem to have gotten
> distracted from the problems you're having. Also I'm sorry if my first post
> was a bit abstract.
>
> Have the responses so far been helpful?
>
> Oscar
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:57:09 +0100
> From: Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com>
> To: tutor at python.org
> Subject: Re: [Tutor] Lotka-Volterra Model Simulation Questions
> Message-ID: <k47qrk$5er$1 at ger.gmane.org>
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>
> On 29/09/12 11:42, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>> On 29/09/12 19:16, Alan Gauld wrote:
>>> I did say I had no idea about the original algorithm so yes, if the
>>> variable names are industry standardised and the people working with the
>>>   code are familiar with them then it may be better to stick with them,
>>> As to using short names to keep things on a single line, there is a huge
>>> body of research in Comp Science that shows that meaningful names
>>> outweigh single line expressions every time in terms of...
>> Yes, but "meaningful names" is relative to the reader,
> Absolutely, see the first para above. This latter comment was explicitly
> in response to the snipped (by me) context:
>
> "Also there are good reasons for using short names in equations. It
> makes it much easier to see the whole equation at once, which makes it
> easier to understand the equations and easier to check your code. If you
> make the variable names too long, even simple equations like these will
> have to split over several lines and be more difficult to read/check."
>
>> To a mathematician, "pi" or "?" is meaningful, and
>> "constant_ratio_of_diameter_to_circumference" would be much harder to read.
> Totally agree.
> My point is that we should not choose short names just to keep an
> expression on a single line. The evidence suggests that the advantages
> of longer names outweigh the advantage of a single line. But in the
> cases here where single letters evidently have expressive power in their
> own right the familiar term is preferable over a longer descriptive name.
>
> Of course, care is needed when splitting an expression over multi lines
> to keep the readability so if the terms can be naturally split by
> operator then that's the place to split them. But this is the same in
> written math too. (Most of the equations I remember reading from my
> quantum mechanics days were split over at least 3 lines... trying to
> force them into a single line would not have made them any more palatable!)
>
>> p = m*v*(1-(c/v)**2)**-0.5
>>
>> they aren't likely to be much enlightened by:
>>
>> momentum = rest_mass*velocity*(1-(speed_of_light/velocity)**2)**-0.5
> I'm slightly less convinced by that. I rarely learned Physics formulae
> by wrote  because I could usually work them out from first principles
> easily enough. So knowing what the variables represent would help me
> more than an equation of single letters if it was an equation I hadn't
> seen before. But where it is an industry standard equation using
> industry standard symbols then for sure, stick to the standard.
>
>> and of course, the longer names aren't likely to help the programmer find
>> the bug in the expression if he doesn't know the subject well.
> Agreed, but if he knows the subject area but not the specific algorithm
> it might help (again assuming standard symbology is used appropriately).
>
>> Meaningful names are vital. But short names, even single letters, are not
>> necessarily less meaningful than longer, more descriptive names.
> Absolutely.
>

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