There is nothing unfortunate whatsoever about requiring indentation. If you ever want to write code that sighted people can read and interpret, it's going to make a heck of a lot more sense to them if they can actually read the stuff.
-----Original Message----- From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of Thomas Ward Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 9:27 PM To: Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Python and Interactive Fiction Hi Dave, Yes, unfortunately, Python still requires that you use proper indention rules when writing software. That's pretty much how it gets away without using braces, brackets, and all the other trappings of C/C++ by defining blocks of code based on indention and proper spacing. That said, once you learn how to properly format your code eventually it becomes second nature to you. I guess in that respect I'm fortunate that I learned to format code properly a long time ago, and have been doing it in Java, C++, Visual Basic, you name it for what seems like forever. After a while its so automatic to me that the fact Python absolutely requires me to indent this statement one or two tabs is nothing new. I think when it comes to Python programming NVDA has the upperhand because when you have it enabled NVDA will announce your tabbed indention as you write your code. It lets you hear how many times this or that line has been indented with the tab key so you can determine if you have indented it faar enough or not. Then, if you have access to a braille display that is even better because you can follow the formatting in braille. I don't have a braille display myself, but I've heard people who prefer programming with one for that very reason. Of course, Python is by no means the only option available here. Its merely the one I liked best. Perl is equally up to writing text adventures too, and it has a C style syntax for those people looking for a more C/C++ look and feel to the language. If indenting is an issue something like Perl might be a better substitute. Although, I haven't used Perl in so long I'm not even sure what game specific APIs and libraries are out there for Perl these days. :D Anyway, bottom line, there are quite a lot of scripting languages available Python, Perl, Ruby, Jython, TCL, etc. I'm sure if one isn't sutible there is probably another one that will suit. Its just that Python has pretty much become the adopted scripting language of choice among open source developers, and there is quite a bit of interest in creating games in Python these days. Since PyGame came out, which is a Python wrapper for SDL, there have been a number of free games for Linux produced in Python and PyGame. Python has in its own way become the Visual Basic of the open source world in large part because it was designed from the ground up to target new programmers with little to no experience. Plus SDL has always had a very simple design, that's why it is called Simple Direct Media Layer, and PyGame actually makes it even simpler. Its for reasons like that I've been turning more and more to Python for any kind of open source development I do. My game Star Trek: Final Conflict was initially written in C++, then was rewritten in C# .NET, and the new version has been written in Python. In part because I want it to run on Linux, but I must confess the fact it is simpler than either to use and speeds up development time its preferable to the commercial programming languages. Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
