[Verba] Computer Club Changes

[Stuart D. Gathman]

Taylor will not be at computer club on Wednesday, but will be
participating via email.  On the other hand, Rebecca and perhaps Jillian
will be coming to the club.  I will do my best to resurrect one of the PC
carcasses in our den to take to school.  Just when I had it running, the
CPU fan froze.  Sigh.  It might also be possible to use one of the Ad
Fontes computers during club.

Send mail to verba at gathman.org, and it will reach everyone on the list.
You can see who is currently on the list, and sign up at

http://gathman.org/mailman/listinfo/verba

I don't know Jillian's email (or even if I spelled her name right), so
she will have to sign up herself.

It turns out that all students have no programming experience, so we will 
have to shift our emphasis to learning the basics.  We'll still use CVS to 
access our shared project when we are able to write some code.  While Taylor
has started learning C, I will be using Python as a first language.  

In order to work on programs, you will need to install Python
and a Code Editor on your computer (if it doesn't already have those things).
Would everyone please tell me what kind of computer you have at home, if any.
I can then tell you what you what you need to install.

Ideally, we want everyone to be able to work on their programming 
projects independently, without waiting to share a computer at AdFontes.
Taylor has a Mac Mini at home, which is cool.  (I have some "Oh so 1995"
discarded PCs running LTSP and a 2001 vintage $400 Dell server running Linux
at home.)

Windows will also run Python.  If you are sharing your parents computer,
writing programs in Python is relatively safe.  You are no more likely to
trash their important files than when fooling around with COMMAND or
Windows Explorer.  If they are using Windows XP security features, they
can give you a login that is protected from doing any damage
(unfortunately, most home users have to turn off the security features
because many applications are braindead and will only run in admin mode).

If you have no computer at home, I might bring in some PC carcases and
we can shift to a hardware focus and try to get a working PC :-)  But
I don't have any spare monitors.

I need some help here, students.  I have no idea how quickly you will pick this
up.  You are at an age where your logical powers are just kicking into
high gear.  Or maybe yours kicked in at age 10, and adults seem rather slow.
I don't know you, and this is supposed to be fun - which means we want to
create "flow".  Too easy is boring, too hard is frustrating.  We will start
with an easy tutorial designed for ages 12 - 15, "Live Wires" (creating by a
Chistian summer camp in UK).  If this is too easy and boring, we will skip over
to the adult tutorial, "How to Think Like a Computer Scientist".  There is no
problem with each student doing their own tutorial (and there are more to
choose from).

http://www.livewires.org.uk/python/
http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/

==== Editing Code ====

Most word processors are designed for natural languages.  Computers are 
given instructions in formal languages, as described Chapter 1 of 
"How to Think Like a Computer Scientist":

http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/chap01.htm

Editors designed for computer languages generally use a fixed width font.
There are some modern ideas to change this.  Some of them are even good
ideas (e.g. Literate Programming).  You will need to learn how to use
a programming editor.  You can find a selection with Python specific
features here:

http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEditors

I use the Vim editor.  It has this totally funky command and data mode
that is completely different from any word processor you may have used.
But it is amazingly efficient.  Touch typists appreciate not having their
fingers leave the keyboard for miscellaneous function/arrow keys and/or
mouse clicks.  However, I will be glad to help install and/or select
your preference (e.g. one that works more like a word processor).

If you want to try vim, it works on Mac OSX, Windows, and Unix/Linux.

http://www.vim.org

==== Installing Python ====

http://www.python.org/download/

-- 
	      Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
"Confutatis maledictis, flamis acribus addictis" - background song for
a Microsoft sponsored "Where do you want to go from here?" commercial.