On 03/07/18 16:04, Andre Roberge wrote:
I do agree with what you write ... but, at the same time, I've been
struggling to define appropriate categories. Some software can be
designed for use by (young) adult beginners but not for young children.
(For example: anything that will rely heavily on word menus ... say,
like Microsoft Word.) I'm using the term hobbyists for this category.
Other software can be designed to be used by young children. I did not
see Mu being designed to be used in a CS 101 type of course. Perhaps I
am wrong and should simply think of the target audience as "everyone"
like I did for IDLE.... ?
Got it in one! :-)
Mu is for *anyone* who is a beginner programmer, no matter their age or
background.
Mu is a *very small* code base (currently around 3.5kloc). However, the
installers for Windows and OSX weigh in at around 100mb. Why? Because Mu
bundles Python 3, Qt, Tkinter, Matplotlib, Numpy, Jupyter, PyGame,
PyGameZero and a host of other things commonly used by those starting
computing classes.
Why include all this stuff? Because (and I remember this from my
university days) just being able to set up a dev environment on your own
computer is a royal pain in the arse -- especially if you're a newbie.
;-) If the answer is "just install Mu, 'cos it's easy" then beginner
data scientists immediately have a "first steps" IDE they can use to
skill-up before they go figure out how to "pip install jupyter" and
point their browser to the right place. ;-)
Does this make sense?
N.
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