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In-Reply-To: <5198B7E9.7050505@nedbatchelder.com>
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Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 09:17:08 +0100
Subject: Re: What was the project that made you feel skilled in Python?
From: Nicholas Cole <nicholas.cole@gmail.com>
To: python-list@python.org
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On Sun, May 19, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com>wrote:

> Hi all, I'm trying to come up with more project ideas for intermediate
> learners, somewhat along the lines of http://bit.ly/intermediate-**
> python-projects <http://bit.ly/intermediate-python-projects> .
>
> So here's a question for people who remember coming up from beginner: as
> you moved from exercises like those in Learn Python the Hard Way, up to
> your own self-guided work on small projects, what project were you working
> on that made you feel independent and skilled?  What program first felt
> like your own work rather than an exercise the teacher had assigned?


I had been doing some part-time work on server administration while I was a
graduate student, and had written a python library to help display
user-interfaces for some of the scripts we used internally.  At some point,
I discovered that as I had originally written it, I was triggering a small
memory leak, caused by the interaction between python and the underlying
curses c library.  In the real world, it would never have mattered, but I
minded very much that the problem existed at all.

To fix the fault required rewriting the whole library from scratch, and I
did the initial version of this while on a long train journey away from
internet access.  I could have just left it -- for the scripts we were
running it didn't matter at all -- but it was a matter of pride to write
code that didn't behave badly, even in theory.

I ended up putting the code online, and 8 years and a huge number of public
releases later it still seems to be useful to a few people, and I've
learned an awful lot doing it.  I think my proudest "python" moment was
when I first got a bug report from someone I didn't know.

http://code.google.com/p/npyscreen/

Best wishes,

N.

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><br><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><br><div class=3D"gmail=
_quote">On Sun, May 19, 2013 at 12:30 PM, Ned Batchelder <span dir=3D"ltr">=
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:ned@nedbatchelder.com" target=3D"_blank">ned@nedbatch=
elder.com</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-=
left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;p=
adding-left:1ex">Hi all, I&#39;m trying to come up with more project ideas =
for intermediate learners, somewhat along the lines of <a href=3D"http://bi=
t.ly/intermediate-python-projects" target=3D"_blank">http://bit.ly/intermed=
iate-<u></u>python-projects</a> .<br>

<br>
So here&#39;s a question for people who remember coming up from beginner: a=
s you moved from exercises like those in Learn Python the Hard Way, up to y=
our own self-guided work on small projects, what project were you working o=
n that made you feel independent and skilled? =A0What program first felt li=
ke your own work rather than an exercise the teacher had assigned?</blockqu=
ote>
<div><br></div><div style>I had been doing some part-time work on server ad=
ministration while I was a graduate student, and had written a python libra=
ry to help display user-interfaces for some of the scripts we used internal=
ly. =A0At some point, I discovered that as I had originally written it, I w=
as triggering a small memory leak, caused by the interaction between python=
 and the underlying curses c library. =A0In the real world, it would never =
have mattered, but I minded very much that the problem existed at all.</div=
>
<div style><br></div><div style>To fix the fault required rewriting the who=
le library from scratch, and I did the initial version of this while on a l=
ong train journey away from internet access. =A0I could have just left it -=
- for the scripts we were running it didn&#39;t matter at all -- but it was=
 a matter of pride to write code that didn&#39;t behave badly, even in theo=
ry.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>I ended up putting the code online, and 8 y=
ears and a huge number of public releases later it still seems to be useful=
 to a few people, and I&#39;ve learned an awful lot doing it. =A0I think my=
 proudest &quot;python&quot; moment was when I first got a bug report from =
someone I didn&#39;t know.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style><a href=3D"http://code.google.com/p/npyscre=
en/">http://code.google.com/p/npyscreen/</a><br></div><div style><br></div>=
<div style>Best wishes,</div><div style><br></div><div style>N.</div></div>
</div></div>

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