[Tutor] graphics library for teaching Python

[Cranky Frankie]

Tutor at python.org:
"I'm a computer science tutor and I'm asking advice about a graphics or game
library that can be used with Python effectively for teaching purposes."

Michael Dawson's "Python Programming for Absolute Beginners" uses PyGame.
Might be worth a look.



On Fri, Dec 21, 2018 at 3:26 AM Michael Mossey <michaelmossey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm a computer science tutor and I'm asking advice about a graphics or game
> library that can be used with Python effectively for teaching purposes.
>
> I've found that having my student pick a long-term project is a good way
> for them to learn coding, and graphics or games make great projects that
> both have stimulating results and bring computer-science-y topics into the
> mix (i.e. they are natural vehicles for OO, data structures, and
> algorithms).
>
> There are two sub-topics I'm interested in - (1) graphics, as in drawing
> interesting pictures or art, or using diagrams for data visualization. (2)
> Simple games, with the use of sprites.
>
> I've been using PyGame, but I'm not happy with it. It's not very well
> organized or documented, and not very capable of general graphics.
>
> So I'm looking into a few other possibilities. No library can be everything
> to everyone, but I'd  like something that gives students exposure to a
> variety of programming tasks, like constructing GUIs, events and event
> loops, and 2-D graphics via stroking and filling common polygon shapes and
> Bezier curves. (3D is not necessary for now.)
>
> Here are some alternatives to PyGame:
>
> - Pyglet. Doesn't look promising. I'm mainly interested in 2D, and I don't
> see common data visualization tasks provided like filling and stroking
> Bezier curve shapes (maybe I'm missing something).
>
> - Cairo. Looks great for static 2D graphics, but not games .. again maybe
> I'm missing something.
>
> - Cocos2D. Good for games but not necessary general 2D graphics.
>
> - PyQt. I used this extensively at my last regular desk job many years ago,
> and if I recall it has the QCanvas element with pretty deep graphics
> ability and also event handling. It has collision detection too, I think,
> allowing for easy 2D game writing.
>
> It looks to me like PyQt is the most capable program and most related to
> what I want to do, but one thing I'm wondering about is how widely its used
> and whether it would be good exposure for students to connect them to the
> wider world of computing they will someday enter.
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> Mike
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-- 
Frank L. "Cranky Frankie" Palmeri, Risible Riding Raconteur & Writer
"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." - Cicero