
PythonTurtle - the most low-threshold way for learning/teaching Python - cool-RR
http://pythonturtle.com
======
cool-RR
This is my little side project that I've been working on for a few months.

It is a way for curious people who are not computer-savvy to teach themselves
Python. Of course, it can also be used in a class with an instructor.

Yes, I am aware of turtle.py, the turtle module shipped with the Python
standard library. It has a few problems which I found unforgivable: mainly
that it's not geared towards people who may not know anything about
programming, or how to use IDLE. This is why I decided to make this project.

I'd love to get your comments and feedback.

~~~
orp
Hi,

Cool project.

The only issue I found with it so far is that unlike the old logo, the borders
of the 'world' aren't circular. That means that if you type 'go(500)' from the
opening position, the turtle disappears.

But it's a minor issue, really. My kid is 4 and I'm going to show it to him
tomorrow, see how he likes it.

~~~
cool-RR
I agree, it's a bit annoying that it continues into infinity; I considered
having a "spherical" world, but the problem is that the window size may
change, and I don't know how I could keep it consistent when it happens. If
you got an idea on how to solve that I'll consider it.

------
pasbesoin
I have some friends whose kids are approaching the computer-capable age. I've
been keeping my eyes open for environments that might intrigue and inspire
them. I'm adding yours to the list.

I like the idea of it being Python, so that perhaps they might smoothly
transition from fun to "real" problem solving (which is, I find, the most fun
of all).

~~~
davi
What else is on your list so far?

~~~
pasbesoin
Off the top of my head (it's a mental list and some saved pages/bookmarks I'd
have to track down):

Scratch (MIT)

Alice (Cornell, IIRC -- just saw that an update is due next week)

One or more versions of Logo (e.g Berkeley) (recently, there's at least one
that's hosted in the browser; might lower the gap since no explicit
installation is required).

A couple of things I'm forgetting right now.

When I run across these or particularly a nice introduction to one or another,
I forward the page on to the parents FYI. When/if they start to respond with
"tell us more", I'll go more in depth (and excavate those pages and
bookmarks).

Suggestions welcome. Since they're not my kids, my approach has been somewhat
lackadaisical.

------
davidalln
Reminds me a lot of Logo. I think back in 1st grade computer class it was a
turtle we controlled as well.

Also, in AP Comp Sci we went over the basics of functions by making a turtle
move across a plane.

Why turtles?

~~~
cool-RR
Yeah, it's directly inspired from Logo. Logo was great because you were
immediately able to program, and immediately see the results on the screen.
There wasn't any annoying procedures to do before you could start, no graphics
packages to learn. That was my goal here -- to have as few barriers as
possible between the person and the programming.

Why turtles? I don't know actually, I'm just following Logo's convention. Some
implementations make it a little arrow - I prefer the turtle, especially
because kids like it better. Though there isn't really a reason that a turtle
should leave a trail, so maybe a slug would make more sense.

~~~
pasbesoin
Yes. I'm very much in favor of "desired results quickly". For kids, that may
be something cool and graphical and/or audible.

For adults, it's often solving a problem at hand.

I think that the ability to gets things done, that one desires, draws many
people in. A large initial learning curve before that happens is often a deal
breaker.

Once you're engaged, that's the time to keep teaching you more.

------
le_dominator
Just gave it a try on a Windows Vista box and it crashes on startup. I'm going
to give it a try on Windows XP later when I wake up from my "nap" as I haven't
slept yet ;)

This is a great and noble initiative and I look forward to checking it out
when I'm more than semi-conscious. Please, no wise ass correlations between
semi-consciousness and the use of Windows Vista :D

I'm Swayze.

~~~
cool-RR
Thanks for telling me - I don't have a Vista box, but I should definitely
solve that. I think I'll install Vista on VMWare and look at that.

------
Akin
Crashes on Windows 7 as well at startup. Compatibility modes and running under
admin privileges didn't help either.

~~~
cool-RR
I'll get on it.

~~~
Akin
requires administrator privileges at startup. Once launched with admin
privileges, fails with following error: Failed to load shared library
comctl32.dll (error 126: the specified module could not found)

Note that there's a comctl32.dll on windows\system32.

Edit: Never mind, I left it at compatibility mode. Reverted back to native run
mode and it's working fine now except that at upon exit, it complains about
not being able to open log file because of privilege issues.

~~~
cool-RR
Right, I saw that log file thing on Vista too, I'll look into that. But as
long as it works, that's good enough. Thanks to you I don't have to start
downloading Windows 7 :)

------
aneesh
This reminds me of Karel, another beginner language that lets you move a
robot.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%28programming_language%2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_%28programming_language%29)

