Re: Teaching python to non-programmers

Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Subject	Re: Teaching python to non-programmers
References	(1 earlier) <1ec8952c-f9c8-4f58-9eee-0707a4c89dee@googlegroups.com> <mailman.9146.1397155025.18130.python-list@python.org> <10c257bb-1b3c-410a-81cf-916136b3f8e6@googlegroups.com> <op.xd4g9kvg5079vu@gnudebeest> <4e99defd-a693-4bd7-8470-7b8055d6dff8@googlegroups.com>
From	"Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk>
Organization	The Wildebestiary
Message-ID	<op.xd91rgqj5079vu@gnudebeest> (permalink)
Date	2014-04-13 23:51 +0100

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On Fri, 11 Apr 2014 21:20:05 +0100, <pete.bee.emm@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thursday, April 10, 2014 3:40:22 PM UTC-7, Rhodri James wrote:
>> It's called irony, and unfortunately Mark is reacting to an  
>> all-to-common
>> situation that GoogleGroups foists on unsuspecting posters like  
>> yourself.
>
> People who say "I can't be bothered to correct this" while posting a  
> wise a$$ correction are just trolling, probably not funny in real life  
> either. I think if you're going to wise off than be witty about it,  
> otherwise just a terse reference to a link.

99% of the time, Mark is the one to make a brief comment with the link I  
gave you.  And often gets roundly condemned for daring to suggest that GG  
is not a shining beacon of perfection, for clearly the rest of us are  
complaining out of jealousy.  See my previous comments about straws and  
camels' backs.  Also irony.

> At any rate, my original point stands. You're not teaching on planet  
> Vulcan. Better to teach things in an odd order if that helps motivates  
> your students. It's not like people in real life carefully examine all  
> available documentation before learning some piece of tech. Usually they  
> shrug and say "what's the worst that could happen", dive in, and roll  
> with the consequences%10.

Since "the worst that could happen" with some of the kit I've worked on is  
that I kill people, I have to disagree.  Some flexibility is good, but if  
you want to understand how something works you do need to go through it in  
a logical order.  Otherwise you can end up knowing lots of bits but having  
no understanding of how they interact or hang together.  That's fine if  
you want to learn how to write programs, but it's terrible if you want to  
become a programmer.

-- 
Rhodri James *-* Wildebeest Herder to the Masses

Thread

Teaching python to non-programmers Lalitha Prasad K <lalithaprasad@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 21:24 +0530
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-10 10:53 -0700
    Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-10 19:36 +0100
      Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-10 13:52 -0700
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-04-10 23:40 +0100
          Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 20:17 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 13:59 +1000
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 21:37 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:11 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Paul Rudin <paul.nospam@rudin.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 06:34 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:42 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alister <alister.nospam.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-04-11 10:46 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 21:01 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alister <alister.nospam.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2014-04-11 11:48 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 22:42 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 22:54 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 16:01 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:36 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 16:00 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:34 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Paul Rudin <paul.nospam@rudin.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 12:46 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 11:59 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-04-11 07:39 -0500
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 22:50 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 11:19 -0700
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-12 01:45 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2014-04-14 16:13 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-04-14 00:59 -0600
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 23:39 -0600
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 10:07 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 20:17 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 15:54 +1000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 09:37 +0000
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-11 07:09 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 17:19 +1000
            Re: Interleaved vs. top-posting Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2014-04-11 07:44 -0500
              Re: Interleaved vs. top-posting Bob Martin <bob.martin@excite.com> - 2014-04-12 07:28 +0100
          Ostracising bad actors (was: Teaching python to non-programmers) Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2014-04-11 13:28 +1000
          Re: Teaching python to non-programmers pete.bee.emm@gmail.com - 2014-04-11 13:20 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 17:50 -0700
            Re: Teaching python to non-programmers "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.org.uk> - 2014-04-13 23:51 +0100
              Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-14 00:54 +0100
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-04-14 00:20 +0000
                Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-14 08:32 +0100
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2014-04-11 14:43 +0100
        Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark H Harris <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 09:12 -0500
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2014-04-10 11:24 -0700
  Re: Teaching python to non-programmers Mark H Harris <harrismh777@gmail.com> - 2014-04-11 09:35 -0500

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