Kirby Urner wrote: >>Classes are not a feasible choice to start with because they are a most >>complex structure in a programming language that builds on knowledge of >>virtually anything else. >> > > > We agree on a lot of points. > > Because just about any decent Python script makes use of core data > structures, such as the list, even if only as a range() return, dot-notation > starts to be relevant right from the top. Explaining dot-notation as > thing.action(inputs) identifies these "things" as the objects, with > dot-notation being a postfix notation for calling, setting and getting. > > Yes, but I still need to explain dot-notation, even in the early days of > just doing simple functions. > You might try: "These names don't just exist in some primordial soup. There has to be a place they get stored. There is a bit of "magic": import __main__ a = 24 print a, __main__.a __main__.a = 365 print a, __main__.a
And even: print a, __main__.a, __main__.__main__.a Now everything is dot notation, with some of the "thing." stuff assumed. Eventually you'll have to say locacal variables don't really work like that, but they are close. --Scott David Daniels [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig