"programming education" entries
5 reasons why Python is a popular teaching language
Python's simplicity makes it accessible to learners and teachers alike.
Download a free copy of Python in Education. Editor’s note: this is an excerpt from Python in Education, a free report written by Nicholas Tollervey.
I am going to answer a very simple question: which features of the Python language itself make it appropriate for education? This will involve learning a little Python and reading some code. But don’t worry if you’re not a coder! This chapter will hopefully open your eyes to how easy it is to learn Python (and thus, why it is such a popular choice as a teaching language).
Code readability
When I write a to-do list on a piece of paper, it looks something like this:
Shopping Fix broken gutter Mow the lawn
This is an obvious list of items. If I wanted to break down my to-do list a bit further, I might write something like this:
Shopping:
Eggs
Bacon
Tomatoes
Fix broken gutter:
Borrow ladder from next door
Find hammer and nails
Return ladder!
Mow the lawn:
Check lawn around pond for frogs
Check mower fuel level
Intuitively, we understand that the main tasks are broken down into sub-tasks that are indented underneath the main task to which they relate. This makes it easy to see, at a glance, how the tasks relate to each other.
Velocity highlights (video bonus!)
A collection of must-see keynotes from Velocity Santa Clara, with bonus videos of some of the best sessions.
Editor’s note: this post originally appeared on Steve Souders’ blog; it is published here with permission.
We’re in the quiet period between Velocity Santa Clara and Velocity New York. It’s a good time to look back at what we saw and look forward to what we’ll see this September 15-17 in NYC.
Velocity Santa Clara was our biggest show to date. There was more activity across the attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors than I’d experienced at any previous Velocity. A primary measure of Velocity is the quality of the speakers. As always, the keynotes were livestreamed — the people who tuned in were not disappointed. I recommend reviewing all of the keynotes from the Velocity YouTube Playlist. All of them were great, but here’s a collection of some of my favorites.
Virtual Machines, JavaScript and Assembler
Start. Here. Scott Hanselman’s walk through the evolution of the web and cloud computing is informative and hilarious: