Who is in? :D

[sapo]

Hi folks,

As you all can see there are a lot of people starting to learn python, and a lot of people asks for advice here, and i m one on those people, some time ago i started learning a byte of python (http://byteofpython.info) and this week i started again with python reading some tutorials and stuff.

But i think that you all know how vague is to learn a programming language just coding stuff like:

a = "hello world"
print a

I hate it and it made me give up the first time i tried, i learned php by myself reading tutorials and stuff, but i had a lot of things in mind that time and i started making code from nothing, and now i m employied as a php programmer.

But python is different, i dont have anything in mind, any projects or stuff to develop, and i think that most people that is trying to learn it are in the same boat, my idea is the following:

Why dont we start something like a "project"?
It would be more like a user group or something, i ll try to be as clear as possible, so i ll enumerate:



1 - Find people who are willing to help

2 - Discuss what kind of projects are we gonna start

3 - Define the projects priorities, make brainstorm, draw stuff, etc

4 - Setup goals
Something like, app1 do something in terminal, after we finish it and it works, we start working on a gui, after we finish the app1 gui we start working on app2 that is more dificult... and so we keep going.

5 - Set up a higher goal
Make a simple instant messager client, a rss reader, a blog tool, a bittorrent client gui, etc.
Something that sounds big right now, something like the end of the line.


But how are we gonna learn with it?
At first as i m a php programmer we can start making ou project website, and setup something like a blog for each member, more like a wiki, and of course a simple forum so we can discuss and help each other.

But what is the difference between this and other open source project
1 - We are nothing making anything usefull at start, we are reinventing the wheel, we are trying to LEARN and not making some kind of new OS.
2 - All people is gonna have a common "programming skill" level, we can make various "groups" and set up various projects depending on the group skill level.
3 - Poject documentation and feedback, we need to have a common policy of comments and feedback in the projects, something like for each line of code we write 3 explaining to others why that line is there...

I have these ideas and of course some you guys can start helping sharing your own ideas...

so.. who is in? :mrgreen:

And now we already have a forum :)
http://python.xgn.com.br/index.php

[darthsabbath]

I would definitely be willing to help, at least some. I'm in school and work full time, but I do want to learn how to program more skillfully. My problem is I can't think of any itch to scratch. Everytime I start a project to fill a need, I eventually find a solution that fills that need. Working on a project with other people will definitely help me there.

So, yeah, count me in. :D

[Rinzwind]

How about making something that's up ahead: the WC football in germany.
Since you are from Brazil ;)

What about a scorebord in python where a user ('we') add the scores of the games and the output shows the standings. It could also include what score a team needs to do to advance to the next stage.

It would require several sets of coding:
1. something graphical to add the teams to groups.
2. then something to add scores.
3. then something to show the scorings and all kinda info.

[sapo]

How about making something that's up ahead: the WC football in germany.
Since you are from Brazil ;)

What about a scorebord in python where a user ('we') add the scores of the games and the output shows the standings. It could also include what score a team needs to do to advance to the next stage.

It would require several sets of coding:
1. something graphical to add the teams to groups.
2. then something to add scores.
3. then something to show the scorings and all kinda info.
There is no need for it, brazil will win anyway ;)

just kidding hehe, btw..

Its a nice idea, easy to make, but believe me first we need to make something withou any gui, and then put a gui on it, so first we can make this work on a terminal, thats easy, then we think about the gui, but it would be more usefull if it worked online like a website, its something that we have to consider.

But first we need to think about creating our work enviroment, so we can discuss more things, i m thinking about setting up a punbb (http://www.punbb.org) for us, what do you guys think?

And we are forgetting something, we need a name for our project.. maybe "Python n00bs in action", lol just kidding.. i m no good for naming things..

So, i ll take care of the forum, hosting and all this stuff, but we need to take the first steps to set up our "meeting room" if you know what i mean..

Also we need a irc channel, but for it we need a name too.

I would definitely be willing to help, at least some. I'm in school and work full time, but I do want to learn how to program more skillfully. My problem is I can't think of any itch to scratch. Everytime I start a project to fill a need, I eventually find a solution that fills that need. Working on a project with other people will definitely help me there.

So, yeah, count me in.

Dont mind i dont have pretty much time to code too, so we already have 3 people counting Rinzwind

[sapo]

I had another idea for future projects, we can make our own utilities using python, something like:

We can make a python code highlighter, a tool to submit and download codes from/to the website, some kind of project manager, something to take notes of functions and stuff we are learning.. a simple rss reader, etc.

I think that it would be very usefull and there will be a lot of simple tools that we are gonna be able to make, what you guys think?

[jrib]

I like this idea. I recently started learning python and working through some tutorials as well and felt the same way you did sapo. Count me in.

[sapo]

I like this idea. I recently started learning python and working through some tutorials as well and felt the same way you did sapo. Count me in.
So now we already have 4 people.

Now we need a project name, setup a forum or something like and start some brainstorming.

ps. woah my post #1000 :mrgreen:

[Wallakoala]

I'm also learning python. I guess I can help, because I can never think of anything to program. Btw...I'm learning from the book Learning Python which is published by O'reilly. This book is better than any of the online tutorials I've read, so If you are going to buy a book on python I would recommend it.

[sapo]

I'm also learning python. I guess I can help, because I can never think of anything to program. Btw...I'm learning from the book Learning Python which is published by O'reilly. This book is better than any of the online tutorials I've read, so If you are going to buy a book on python I would recommend it.
I was thinking about making a section on the website with recommended books and tutorials too :)

I already started working on a python highlighter using php, so we can post colored codes on the forums ^^

[Omnios]

I am very interested in starting to learn Python but can not seem to realy get into it but find this very interesting.

You might want to look intoe this also,

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python (http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/)

It was mentioned on G4Tecktv as the highest rated newbie book and from what I have read so far was writen by computer science teachers as a easier book to introduce students to computer programming.

Anyways I will be watching this thread and hopefully be able to get right into it!

[sapo]

I am very interested in starting to learn Python but can not seem to realy get into it but find this very interesting.

You might want to look intoe this also,

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python (http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/)

It was mentioned on G4Tecktv as the highest rated newbie book and from what I have read so far was writen by computer science teachers as a easier book to introduce students to computer programming.

Anyways I will be watching this thread and hopefully be able to get right into it!
The Python code hilight tools is done :)

http://xgn.no-ip.org:1000/~sapo/tools/python/

Try it out fellows :mrgreen:

[Omnios]

I would like to mention that one point where self study fails is lack of programming pear support as in haveing a teacher to anser stumping questions. This is where a group could definatly help. WIth every one helping out others such as the Ubuntu forum helps for Ubuntu with some heavy hitters for the big questions.

The more I think of what you are saying the more it makes sense I realy hope something gets off the ground

[sapo]

I would like to mention that one point where self study fails is lack of programming pear support as in haveing a teacher to anser stumping questions. This is where a group could definatly help. WIth every one helping out others such as the Ubuntu forum helps for Ubuntu with some heavy hitters for the big questions.

The more I think of what you are saying the more it makes sense I realy hope something gets off the ground
Yes, thats exactly what i m thinking about, even if everybody in the group just have a few coding skills, if a lot of people start helping each other, fixing codes, and trading code, that would be a very fast way to learn.

btw, today i lost quite some time trying to make punbb highlight python code without any luck, btw... i ll put a forum to work so we can start organizing the house :mrgreen:

[Ozitraveller]

I am very interested in starting to learn Python but can not seem to realy get into it but find this very interesting.

You might want to look intoe this also,

How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python (http://greenteapress.com/thinkpython/)

It was mentioned on G4Tecktv as the highest rated newbie book and from what I have read so far was writen by computer science teachers as a easier book to introduce students to computer programming.

Anyways I will be watching this thread and hopefully be able to get right into it!

I've read this and "Dive into Python" and found them very slow going. They were good for syntax but for me not very interesting. So I started hunting on Amazon, and found "Beginning Python: From Novice to Professional" by Magnus Lie Hetland, Apress (September 26, 2005) 159059519X, "Beginning Python" Wrox (August 5, 2005) 0764596543, "Python Cookbook" O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 2 edition (March 18, 2005) 0596007973. And yes, they aren't free, but they look excellent with far more info then the previous 2 including Gui and network development and all goog value second-hand.

Anyway my 2 cents.

[darthsabbath]

This sounds like a really fun idea. Definitely get a forum/whatnot started and I'll be there. :D

Phil

[sapo]

This sounds like a really fun idea. Definitely get a forum/whatnot started and I'll be there. :D

Phil
I ll setup it today, yesterday i spent 4 hours trying to make punbb highlight python code without any luck :( so i gave up for now.

btw.. nobody have any suggestion? how would we call this thing?

[sapo]

Yo fellows, now we already have a forum:

http://python.xgn.com.br/index.php

The second thing we need is a NAME, ok.. suggestions please!
http://python.xgn.com.br/viewtopic.php?pid=2#p2

[bored2k]

Though this would be interesting, I can't join right now. I'm being thrown C derived languages from all angles (college, books, you name it), so I can't lose focus and start learning an interpreted language on top of all my Procedural/OO studies.

[sapo]

lol.. python is more OO than you think, it is interpreted, but i think you should read more about it...

http://www.byteofpython.info/read/oops.html

[bored2k]

lol.. python is more OO than you think, it is interpreted, but i think you should read more about it...

http://www.byteofpython.info/read/oops.html
I still don't have it for it, at least now :D.

[Swab]

I'm in... I've just started with python and haven't gotten too far... anyway my idea is a gnome applet for displaying folding@home stats.. basically lets you know your ranking, progress on current unit, and so on.

[sapo]

nice, could you please post a topic there with your idea, so we can maybe start our first project with it?

http://python.xgn.com.br/viewforum.php?id=1

And all you guys that have ideas, please post too, we need some starting point

[raublekick]

Great idea sapo! Mind if I join in? I might just lay low on the sidelines for a bit if that's cool. I've been meaning to work out some python, and just haven't gotten motivated to do it. This looks like good motivation.

I had an idea to use as my learning project: Make a simple bank account balancing software. Not anything complex like gnucash, just something that keeps track of monthly bank statements through user input.

[Swab]

Great idea sapo! Mind if I join in? I might just lay low on the sidelines for a bit if that's cool. I've been meaning to work out some python, and just haven't gotten motivated to do it. This looks like good motivation.

I had an idea to use as my learning project: Make a simple bank account balancing software. Not anything complex like gnucash, just something that keeps track of monthly bank statements through user input.

Come join us in our new forum! http://python.xgn.com.br/index.php

[sapo]

Our first project is already in motion :) take a look:

http://python.xgn.com.br/viewforum.php?id=5

[Omnios]

I just joined the forum, looking good.

Edit: Ever try using Lip stick earth colors on the web there so soothing.

[raublekick]

joined!

[Rinzwind]

I just bought O'Reilly's 'Python in a nutshell'. I had no choice cuz it was the only Python book there. But it will serve it's need: it's just for off-line reference :)

So I am in too. Tho I need to express my opinion about the folding@home: IT SUCKS. 4 DAYS AND I AM STILL ON 2 WU'S :(

[sapo]

I just bought O'Reilly's 'Python in a nutshell'. I had no choice cuz it was the only Python book there. But it will serve it's need: it's just for off-line reference :)

So I am in too. Tho I need to express my opinion about the folding@home: IT SUCKS. 4 DAYS AND I AM STILL ON 2 WU'S :(
lol :mrgreen:



Btw people, who is joining the project please, sign in in the forum:

http://python.xgn.com.br/

And flood there, so we can really now who are in :mrgreen:

The folding@home project is still in motion :)

[anthro398]

I 'm interested depending on the project and whatnot. I'm interested in xml and html parsing for dynamic web content (among other things). You can see my latest toy at http://www.prairienet.org/~jtuttle/rss.html. We've been talking about that a bit on this thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=633131). So, did anyone suggest a project yet?

[sapo]

We a currently with 3 projects in mind:

1 - The folding@home status app, a simple app to show your folding@home status.

2 - a chess game

3 - Make some tools for the project, a downloader and uploader script, you type: ./upload username password file.py project and the script sends your file to the project ;)

And of course we are open for any suggestion, but we are still starting everything.

[dcraven]

I haven't visited the forum, so I don't know if it's been discussed, but I'd strongly suggest that the first thing you all do is become familiar with Subversion, and set up a repository to use.

This will save many headaches in the future for everyone involved.

HTH,
~djc

[sapo]

I haven't visited the forum, so I don't know if it's been discussed, but I'd strongly suggest that the first thing you all do is become familiar with Subversion, and set up a repository to use.

This will save many headaches in the future for everyone involved.

HTH,
~djc
it was posted on the forums, i think that it can make clear what our goal is ;)

Ok again smile

1 question tho:
Is it a problem if people code the same stuff??? I think not. What about we make sure people code the same stuff. That way we get 1 topic where 4 people post snippets that do the same and we can discuss WHY we did something the way we did and we can see how others approached the same problem ---> The result is that we learn from it. Aint that the idea?
I don't mind if we ALL make our own program and we end up with 6 versions of a folding program. The learning to code to me is the issue. Not that we end up with a cool program that show all we can show regarding folding.


Why not have our program for download on this site (in a sticky). Let's say we name the file "folding.{date}.py'. The current file is a sticky and the older files stay in the forum as locked/normal topic. In every open topic we discuss snippets we coded.

We all download the current file.
We post what part we feel like working on and what we are trying to do. Let's say we have 1/2/3/4/5 days of discussion on the new file and after that we have 1/2/3/4/5 days of coding.
When done we post the snippets we coded or when you are stuck you ask around here.
On the forum we also post our comments to the snippets. That way the forum becomes the documentation and the program can be slick and efficient. We could also have all comments inside a txt file we can download.

1 person adds them to the new file and we can download a new copy and start a new topic.

Does this explain it better?

[dragonfyre13]

Alright, I've been looking for a new project. I don't have much time, but it took me less than a week to get fluent with C#, why not this? Besides, I need a bit of a challange, and java just seems to much for me. I'm in.

[Jimmey]

If there's room,

I'd love to be in.

[Swab]

So come on over to our forum http://python.xgn.com.br/

[sapo]

If there's room,

I'd love to be in.
It will be aways room for anyone that wants to learn ;)

[nszabolcs]

i wish you good luck for your project

FWIW my recommendation
for those who are interested in:

- what's going on in the python community:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python
(also search the archives, because lots of questions have been discussed there)
http://www.pythonware.com/daily/

- learning the language:
http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html
http://diveintopython.org/
http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/

- a python reference:
http://rgruet.free.fr/PQR24/PQR2.4.html
use the interpreter and dir(), dir(obj) or vars(obj)

- finding python projects, modules, libraries
http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi
use google search

[kiubuntu]

Hey Guys,
This is mt first post to Ubuntu Forums. I use Ubuntu 5.04 on my iBook. I hv been reading this forum for last 40 -45 days. And when I read this topic, I sorta liked the idea. I know C. And soon wish to learn Data Structures Using C. But U know I always wanted to learn a language that I can use to develope application even they are smaller and both stand alone n web type. So I think Python would be great. I am little worried about OOP.
I have signed up at the SNUPP.
Again thanx for the wonderful idea.:D

[Rinzwind]

SAPO!

SNUPP is dead.
And I got stuff to post.

[sapo]

SAPO!

SNUPP is dead.
And I got stuff to post.
Its not dead, i just done have time to organize that anymore, i m working 9 hours a day and started at the university at night.

If you want you help me organize the project you are welcome, i finally could test your chess game today, i ll post a feedback later :)

[phibxr]

I don't know if anyone has pointed it out yet, but SNUPP means C*CK in swedish (and probably some other scandinavian tounges too). :-?

[Wallakoala]

I don't know if anyone has pointed it out yet, but SNUPP means C*CK in swedish (and probably some other scandinavian tounges too). :-?
lol....I feel bad now...I'm the one who came up with the name....

[sapo]

lol.. SNUPP for us just means "Stupidly named Ubuntu Python Project" or "Still Nameless Ubuntu Python Project"

But any new name is welcome, and anyone who have time to help me manage this stuff is welcome too :mrgreen:

[WelterPelter]

I'm in. Started learning python this week. Looking to learn a lot more. I'll post some code I wrote in the c*ck... I mean SNUPP forum.

[Steveire]

I'm in. I haven't read the entire thread yet, so I don't know what's going on. I discovered python around december though, (I had a project. It really is the best way) and I can see it's a very useful language to have. I'll read this and find out what's going on later.

[unbuntu]

I'm interested also. I picked up Python last year during co-op work, and used it primarily for text parsing. I liked it a lot, and for any beginners that are out there, you should really check out Mark Pilgrim's ''Dive into Python''. It's very well written, and legally free.

I'm about to start my new co-op work term soon. Although the company doesn't use Python, I still think I'm going to learn more about it, maybe into GUI, like WxPython and stuff.

So what project idea do you guys have so far?

[fng]

Is this project still alive? Their forum has no post after Jan 2006.
I'm interrested to help too.

[sapo]

Its kinda.. hum.. dead!

I dont have any more time to manage it, if someone have some spare time and want to take over the project i can provide the forum host and all the stuff, but i can't manage it anymore by myself.