

Show HN: iOS app for learning Python - villek
http://mobileicecube.com/quiz-learn-python/

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ldayley
This is pretty cool, especially for learning how to visually parse basic
python quickly.

I'd also add a couple of other tools:

Pythonista is indispensable for learning/using Python on iOS. 'Python for iOS'
is good too-- it isn't as clean as Pythonista, but it does include the
python.org language docs with the app. The both utilize python 2.7 and a REPL,
but I think there are other versions that use Python 3.

~~~
villek
Thanks!

Pythonista and 'Python for iOS' are good apps, with quite different goals than
my app. They allow trying and exploring the language and learning to write
programs, whereas I aim to teach basic reading skills of programs. Both are
important skills.

There nowadays seems to be 'Python x.x for iOS' for almost all recent versions
of Python :)

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thoughtpalette
After playing around with this since you released it yesterday, the answer
buttons need to be much bigger. You definitely have the real estate on the
screen (iPhone 5). It'd be cool to separate them as well so they're not all
touching.

I have pretty small hands/fingers and still end up mis-clicking after periods
of use.

Awesome app though, love the skip feature!

~~~
villek
Thanks for the feedback! Some of the questions have quite long code snippets,
while some have only one line. But there should be room at least on iPhone5 to
make the buttons larger. I'll work on it for the next update.

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ksikka
but how do you try out the python code - say in a REPL - in an iPhone app?
wouldn't you need a computer anyway?

~~~
villek
In my app, you cannot try out the code. You can step through the execution to
see how the program state changes, but that's based on a pre-generated trace
of the program execution.

In Pythonista and 'Python for iOS' mentioned by ldayley you can execute the
code you write. Don't know how they do it, though.

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josu
Why is the app free? Is it supported by ads or are you planning on
capitalizing it in the future?

~~~
villek
The app is free today and will change to paid ($0.99) tomorrow. I wanted to
get downloads and hopefully climb in the rankings when launching.

That said, I built the app mostly for fun and learning, so making money --
while a nice bonus -- isn't the main motivator.

~~~
karmelapple
Please note that when switching an app between free and paid, your position in
the rankings resets. If you get 1 million free downloads, and change your app
to paid the next day, none of those downloads count in the paid charts ranking
algorithm. (At least, in the past it hasn't)

~~~
villek
That's good to know, thanks. Based on a previous launch, I was under the
impression that they wouldn't reset. But it certainly does make sense that
they do reset when going from free to paid.

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Yanror
Will you build this out into other languages? Maybe a Dualingo for coders?

~~~
villek
I've thought of other languages, but decided to focus on improving this Python
version for now. This is a side project, so development time is limited.

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niels_olson
High score is currently 64843. Best use of time-spent-in-line ever!

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gomesnayagam
may need to extend various feature, all the best.

~~~
villek
Yes, my list of feature and improvement ideas seems endless ;)

