Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread w chun
On 2/24/06, Peter Chase <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to
> introduce them to Python.


peter,

i've been teaching programming to people (kids, adults, everywhere in
between) for 24 years now.  when i learned python back in 1997, i
didn't find a good enough book meant to LEARN *and* TEACH Python with.

so i wrote my own: Core Python.  Prentice Hall/Pearson published
by book in 2001... http://corepython.com

it's the best book for teaching, and it's not just because i'm a
programmer and the author, but more importantly, a technical trainer.

there are more exercises (easy, hard, everywhere in between) in Core
Python that in all other Python books combined.  it is targeted
towards secondary schools, universities, and vocational and
professional continuing education institutations.

i'm currently working on a 2nd edition of the book, to be released
late summer, somewhat too late for you, but the 1st edition is still
around (but out-of-print), and the material is still relevant and not
obsolete, even if it came out in the 2.0 timeframe.

one weakness that i would like to address in future editions is to
have more of the fun, graphics stuff that i've seen recently.  it
would be a great addition for those like yourself considering it for
the younger crowd.

if you're interested in it, let me know, and if you would like to
review the 2nd ed or *be* a reviewer for 2nd ed, let me know, and i'll
put you in touch with the folks from Prentice Hall.

cheers,
-- wesley
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Core Python Programming", Prentice Hall, (c)2006,2001
http://corepython.com

wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com
cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca
http://cyberwebconsulting.com
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread Andre Roberge
On 2/24/06, Peter Chase <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to
> introduce them to Python.  Reasons are numerous
> -   It's the least weird language I know.
> -   It offers so many programming styles.
> -   And not least, it's free
>
> SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelle
> and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
> -   The students presumably have had programming courses already.

> -   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could
> generate some graphics.
> -   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.

I imagine that the final goal is to leave them with tools that they
can use to teach Python themselves. I would suggest looking at two
different approaches, possibly including them both:
1) http://www.livewires.org.uk/python/.
2) either gvr.sourceforge.net or rur-ple.sourceforge.net
gvr (Guido van Robot) is the more mature of the two ... but is not
really Python (although it is a good introduction that leads to Python
programming).
rur-ple is an introduction to Python programming.  It is still in
development and will eventually include an introduction to graphics
programming (in the context of simple games); this may not be included
by the beginning of this summer though.  It has more teaching material
included than GvR - but has not been as thoroughly tested.

All of the above are free to use.

André


>
> Appreciate any advice.
>
> Peter Chase
> Sul Ross State University
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread Scott David Daniels
Peter Chase wrote:
> I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to 
> introduce them to Python
> SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelle 
> and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
> -   The students presumably have had programming courses already.
> -   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could 
> generate some graphics.
> -   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.

For the weirdest suggestion you'll get, at least take a look at
Ruth Chabay & Bruce Sherwood's book, "Matter and Interactions"
 http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rwchabay/mi
They teach both physics and "enough" programming to do 3-d programming
on the way to teaching physics.  You might be able to make a short
course out of the "how to program" part of the books.

--Scott David Daniels
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread gerry_lowry{905~825'9582}abilityBusinessComputerServices
You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
http://www.jsoftware.com/

Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken Iverson and his 
colleague Roger Hui.

"J is a modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance programming 
language. J is portable and runs on Windows, Unix, Mac, 
and PocketPC handhelds, both as a GUI and in a console. True 64-bit J systems 
are available for XP64 or Linux64, on AMD64 or Intel 
EM64T platforms. J systems can be installed and distributed for free."

Examples:

5 + 5
10

   ADD =. +

   5 ADD 5
10

   +/ 3 4 5 8 12 45
77

   ADDtheseNumbers =. +/

   ADDtheseNumbers  3 4 5 8 12 45
77

 2 + 5 6 7
7 8 9

   i. 6
0 1 2 3 4 5

   power =:  ^
   x power 2


   x =. 3 4 5 6
   x power 2
9 16 25 36
   2 power x
8 16 32 64


J comes with many tutorial labs as part of the IDE.

J processes vectors and arrays with ease.

J forums have many J'ers willing to guide.




regards,
gerry

"If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like nails".  
(author unknown)




- Original Message - 
From: "Peter Chase" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: 
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 3:29 PM
Subject: [Edu-sig] Textbooks


I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to
introduce them to Python.  Reasons are numerous
-   It's the least weird language I know.
-   It offers so many programming styles.
-   And not least, it's free

SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelle
and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
-   The students presumably have had programming courses already.
-   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could
generate some graphics.
-   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.

Appreciate any advice.

Peter Chase
Sul Ross State University






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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread Andre Roberge
On 2/24/06, gerry_lowry{905~825'9582}abilityBusinessComputerServices
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
> http://www.jsoftware.com/
>
> Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken Iverson and his 
> colleague Roger Hui.
>

Is it only me that finds this post "offensive".  This is a mailing
list about using Python in education.  The original poster asked for
resources to teach Python to teachers.  (Granted, I provided one
reference [out of 3] to GvR which is not *quite* Python ... but is
considered by many to be very close).

André


>
> regards,
> gerry
>
> "If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like 
> nails".  (author unknown)
>
>
>
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread GerryLowry1(905)825-9582{AbilityBusinessComputerServices}
Andre ... before you take offense, you might want to ask Kirby his opinion of J.

g.

From: "Andre Roberge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: 
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 7:47 PM


<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
> http://www.jsoftware.com/
>
> Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken Iverson and his 
> colleague Roger Hui.
>

Is it only me that finds this post "offensive".  This is a mailing
list about using Python in education.  The original poster asked for
resources to teach Python to teachers.  (Granted, I provided one
reference [out of 3] to GvR which is not *quite* Python ... but is
considered by many to be very close).

André

> regards,
> gerry
>
> "If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like 
> nails".  (author unknown) 


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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-24 Thread Chuck Allison


J is a reincarnation of Iverson's APL, an array processing language
(witness the example below). It has its nice features, but is off
topic for this list.

Friday, February 24, 2006, 5:00:29 PM, you wrote:

g99a> You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
http://www.jsoftware.com/

g99a> Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken
g99a> Iverson and his colleague Roger Hui.

g99a> "J is a modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance
g99a> programming language. J is portable and runs on Windows, Unix, Mac,
g99a> and PocketPC handhelds, both as a GUI and in a console. True
g99a> 64-bit J systems are available for XP64 or Linux64, on AMD64 or Intel
g99a> EM64T platforms. J systems can be installed and distributed for free."

g99a> Examples:

g99a> 5 + 5
g99a> 10

g99a>ADD =. +

g99a>5 ADD 5
g99a> 10

g99a>+/ 3 4 5 8 12 45
g99a> 77

g99a>ADDtheseNumbers =. +/

g99a>ADDtheseNumbers  3 4 5 8 12 45
g99a> 77

g99a>  2 + 5 6 7
g99a> 7 8 9

g99a>i. 6
g99a> 0 1 2 3 4 5

g99a>power =:  ^
g99a>x power 2


g99a>x =. 3 4 5 6
g99a>x power 2
g99a> 9 16 25 36
g99a>2 power x
g99a> 8 16 32 64


g99a> J comes with many tutorial labs as part of the IDE.

g99a> J processes vectors and arrays with ease.

g99a> J forums have many J'ers willing to guide.




g99a> regards,
g99a> gerry

g99a> "If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to
g99a> look like nails".  (author unknown)




g99a> - Original Message - 
g99a> From: "Peter Chase" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
g99a> To: 
g99a> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 3:29 PM
g99a> Subject: [Edu-sig] Textbooks


g99a> I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to
g99a> introduce them to Python.  Reasons are numerous
g99a> -   It's the least weird language I know.
g99a> -   It offers so many programming styles.
g99a> -   And not least, it's free

g99a> SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelle
g99a> and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
g99a> -   The students presumably have had programming courses already.
g99a> -   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could
g99a> generate some graphics.
g99a> -   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.

g99a> Appreciate any advice.

g99a> Peter Chase
g99a> Sul Ross State University






g99a> ___
g99a> Edu-sig mailing list
g99a> Edu-sig@python.org
g99a> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig 


g99a> ___
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g99a> Edu-sig@python.org
g99a> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig




-- 
Best regards,
 Chuck


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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread kirby urner
Yeah J is fun.  If Python is the least weird, J is maybe the most weird language I know ("know").J is one of those languages that rewards cleverness -- the kind of cleverness that leaves other coders in the dust sometimes (or oneself, when feeling less inspired).
I've got some writings on it linked from my CP4E page:  http://www.4dsolutions.net/ocn/cp4e.htmlKirby
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread kirby urner
SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelleand/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
-   The students presumably have had programming courses already.-   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they couldgenerate some graphics.-   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.
Appreciate any advice.Peter ChaseSul Ross State UniversityI still like Zelle's best and includes some graphics (Tk-based, using his own graphics.py).  Some of the online tutorials are quite worthwhile as well:
http://diveintopython.org/ is freely downloadable.Or roll your own (that's what I've been doing).Another way to get graphics is to write scene description language (POV-Ray) or even VRML from Python.  I've used this approach successfully, but only because I give students access to prewritten modules.  Like, we might build our own vector class, with a module that already expects to use vectors.
VPython is still more graphically exciting.If you're teaching people who're going to be in turn teaching Python, then I think the job is more to showcase what's possible, often in demo mode.  Give a sense of the possibilities.  Mastery of all these options needn't be the goal of the course.  I'd focus on enough mastery of basic core Python to leave students with a sense of "hey, this ain't so hard, I could really be productive with this!"
Kirby
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread Paul Barrett
The multidimensional array modules in their various incarnations, Numeric, Numarray and Numpy - with the Numpy being the latest and hopeful last - are based on J's array semantics and behaviour.  So in some sense, you can teach J programming concepts by using Numpy.
Have you you tried Numpy? -- PaulOn 2/24/06, gerry_lowry{905~825'9582}abilityBusinessComputerServices <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
http://www.jsoftware.com/Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken Iverson and his colleague Roger Hui."J is a modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance programming language. J is portable and runs on Windows, Unix, Mac,
and PocketPC handhelds, both as a GUI and in a console. True 64-bit J systems are available for XP64 or Linux64, on AMD64 or IntelEM64T platforms. J systems can be installed and distributed for free."
Examples:5 + 510   ADD =. +   5 ADD 510   +/ 3 4 5 8 12 4577   ADDtheseNumbers =. +/   ADDtheseNumbers  3 4 5 8 12 4577 2 + 5 6 77 8 9   i. 6
0 1 2 3 4 5   power =:  ^   x power 2   x =. 3 4 5 6   x power 29 16 25 36   2 power x8 16 32 64J comes with many tutorial labs as part of the IDE.J processes vectors and arrays with ease.
J forums have many J'ers willing to guide.
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread Arthur
kirby urner wrote:

>
> SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with
> Zelle
> and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
> -   The students presumably have had programming courses already.
> -   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could
> generate some graphics.
> -   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.
>
> Appreciate any advice.
>
> Peter Chase
> Sul Ross State University
>
>
> I still like Zelle's best and includes some graphics (Tk-based, using 
> his own graphics.py). 
>
> Some of the online tutorials are quite worthwhile as well:
> http://diveintopython.org/ is freely downloadable.
>
> Or roll your own (that's what I've been doing).
>
> Another way to get graphics is to write scene description language 
> (POV-Ray) or even VRML from Python.  I've used this approach 
> successfully, but only because I give students access to prewritten 
> modules.  Like, we might build our own vector class, with a module 
> that already expects to use vectors.
>
> VPython is still more graphically exciting.


My fun this week in some sense involved some synthesis of these 
approaches - having come to a "what is possible" revelation.  

PyGeo uses VPython for vector graphics, and exports to POV-Ray - 
producing a high quality "still" of what one is observing on the screen. 
Except that I hadn't been able to find a way to reliably reproduce a 
representation of a flat plane in POV-Ray that closely resembled the 
PyGeo plane - which is just a mesh of thin lines (the vpytbon curve 
object)- exported to POV-Ray the lines showed too much of their 
thickness, and the illusion of flatness, essential to a plane was lost. 
I realized what *does* work is a image map of a  line mesh - with 
appropriate transparencies - applied to a flat polygon, scaled and 
oriented appropriately in POV-Ray.  But PyGeo allows one to apply any 
color to a plane.  I would lose that in POV-Ray if I used a particular 
image map, or even some collection of them.

Ah-ha.

I now have PIL creating a the image map - transparencies and all - on 
the fly. One can have an unlimited number of plane objects represented 
in an unlimited number of colors created in POV_Ray, pretty reliably 
representing what one is seeing in the on screen rendering. There is 
about 10 lines of easy to follow code involved.

Too much fun.

Art


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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread Arthur
Paul Barrett wrote:

> The multidimensional array modules in their various incarnations, 
> Numeric, Numarray and Numpy - with the Numpy being the latest and 
> hopeful last - are based on J's array semantics and behaviour.  So in 
> some sense, you can teach J programming concepts by using Numpy.
>
> Have you you tried Numpy?

I am glad to see the Numeric, NumArray, Numpy line mentioned in the 
context of Python and education.  It is, was and has been essential for 
me in the learning experience I have undertaken with Python. No question 
that I would have passed Python by early in the game if it was not 
there.  (JIm Huginin, late of IronPython (i.e. .Net Python started the 
processs, if I understand correctly)

And I am routing for its eventual inclusion in the standard Python 
distribution.

Art


>  -- Paul
>
> On 2/24/06, *gerry_lowry{905~825'9582}abilityBusinessComputerServices* 
> < [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> > wrote:
>
> You may want to teach J first, in addition, or instead.  
> http://www.jsoftware.com/
>
> Also FREE.J is the creation of Turing Award winner Ken Iverson
> and his colleague Roger Hui.
>
> "J is a modern, high-level, general-purpose, high-performance
> programming language. J is portable and runs on Windows, Unix, Mac,
> and PocketPC handhelds, both as a GUI and in a console. True
> 64-bit J systems are available for XP64 or Linux64, on AMD64 or Intel
> EM64T platforms. J systems can be installed and distributed for free."
>
> Examples:
>
> 5 + 5
> 10
>
>ADD =. +
>
>5 ADD 5
> 10
>
>+/ 3 4 5 8 12 45
> 77
>
>ADDtheseNumbers =. +/
>
>ADDtheseNumbers  3 4 5 8 12 45
> 77
>
> 2 + 5 6 7
> 7 8 9
>
>i. 6
> 0 1 2 3 4 5
>
>power =:  ^
>x power 2
>
>
>x =. 3 4 5 6
>x power 2
> 9 16 25 36
>2 power x
> 8 16 32 64
>
>
> J comes with many tutorial labs as part of the IDE.
>
> J processes vectors and arrays with ease.
>
> J forums have many J'ers willing to guide.
>
>
>
>
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>


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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread GerryLowry1(905)825-9582{AbilityBusinessComputerServices}
Chuck, based on the relation of J to NumPy as expressed by Paul
and the context of Peter's opening message of this thread, to which
I originally replied, imho, my reply was on topic ... of course, biased am I.

MORE INFORMATION


While this -sig is primarily about Python, it appears also to be
about education.  I have been learning about programming since 1967
and truly think the more programming languages to which one is
exposed, the better programmer she/he will become.

q.v.:  "Ken's life was based on the importance of education and teaching"
   http://www.vector.org.uk/?area=kei&page=iverson
 
regards,
 gerry

"If your only tool is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like nails".  
(author unknown)

 From: "Peter Chase" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
 Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 3:29 PM

 I'm teaching some prospective K-12 teachers this summer and propose to
 introduce them to Python.  Reasons are numerous
 -   It's the least weird language I know.
 -   It offers so many programming styles.
 -   And not least, it's free

 SO:  Any recommendations as to course textbooks?  Or just go with Zelle
 and/or O'Reilly's latest wood rat book?
 -   The students presumably have had programming courses already.
 -   I would think that K-12 students would be happier if they could generate 
some graphics.
 -   This is a 6-weeks course.  Little leisure time.

 Appreciate any advice.

 Peter Chase
 Sul Ross State University

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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-25 Thread Daniel Ajoy
On 25 Feb 2006 at 20:01, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 12:18:47 -0500
> From: "Paul Barrett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 
> The multidimensional array modules in their various incarnations, Numeric,
> Numarray and Numpy - with the Numpy being the latest and hopeful last - are
> based on J's array semantics and behaviour.  So in some sense, you can teach
> J programming concepts by using Numpy.
> 
> Have you you tried Numpy?
> 
>  -- Paul


Really_ can any of those tools be used to program tacitly? That 
is without the need to use variables (with the help of "forks", 
"hooks" and the like)?

Daniel






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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread Arthur
> >
> >Really_ can any of those tools be used to program tacitly? 
> >That is without the need to use variables (with the help of 
> >"forks", "hooks" and the like)?


Expressed as someone in touch with esoteric knowledge.

I am guessing it's a Logo thing.

Are you willing to expand?

What is the importance of being able to program "tacitly"?

More basic - what do you mean by programming tacitly?

Does the fact that I don't find your explanation adequate indicate some
problem in my knowledge base? My worldview?

Art



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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread Daniel Ajoy
On 26 Feb 2006 at 9:04, Arthur wrote:

> > >Really_ can any of those tools be used to program tacitly? 
> > >That is without the need to use variables (with the help of 
> > >"forks", "hooks" and the like)?
> 
> 
> Expressed as someone in touch with esoteric knowledge.
> 
> I am guessing it's a Logo thing.
> 
> Are you willing to expand?

I just wanted to verify the claim that some Python modules
really incorporate J semantics.

> What is the importance of being able to program "tacitly"?

You don't need to worry about variables or function parameters
if you do.

> More basic - what do you mean by programming tacitly?

The concept is also called Function-level programming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function-level_programming

http://www.jsoftware.com/books/help/jforc/tacit_programs.htm

> Does the fact that I don't find your explanation adequate indicate some
> problem in my knowledge base? My worldview?

Who am I to judge what is a problem to you?

Daniel





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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread Arthur
Daniel Ajoy wrote:

>On 26 Feb 2006 at 9:04, Arthur wrote:
>
>  
>
Really_ can any of those tools be used to program tacitly? 
That is without the need to use variables (with the help of 
"forks", "hooks" and the like)?


>>Expressed as someone in touch with esoteric knowledge.
>>
>>I am guessing it's a Logo thing.
>>
>>Are you willing to expand?
>>
>>
>
>I just wanted to verify the claim that some Python modules
>really incorporate J semantics.
>  
>
Perhaps  the problem is I didn't understand that such a claim was being 
made.  I thought it was a reference to access to extensive array 
processing functionality.  I am happily lost in the discussion beyond that.

Function-level, value-level, whatever.

I am the last to claim that Python is easy.

I do claim that it is not effete.  These distinctions, to me, fall into 
the realm of the effete - and are not where  I prefer to spend my time 
or energy.

So I perhaps wasted your time by asking you to expand.

Art



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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread kirby urner
I just wanted to verify the claim that some Python modulesreally incorporate J semantics.
numpy incorporates the idea of 'rank' and 'axes' much the way J or other array based languages do i.e. you can shape numbers to have however many axes in some multidimensional box.  Then you can do operations on entire boxes, including in ways which combine them with each other.
To be array based, and to use a semantics of tacit programming, appear to me as separable capabilities.  Numpy doesn't try to be like J in this latter sense.  APL isn't quite like J in this sense either, yet is array-based as well.
Kirby
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread Daniel Ajoy
On 26 Feb 2006 at 8:55, kirby urner wrote:

> >
> > I just wanted to verify the claim that some Python modules
> > really incorporate J semantics.
> 
> 
> numpy incorporates the idea of 'rank' and 'axes' much the way J or other
> array based languages do i.e. you can shape numbers to have however many
> axes in some multidimensional box.  Then you can do operations on entire
> boxes, including in ways which combine them with each other.

I got this from a J document:

http://jsoftware.com/books/help/learning/07.htm

> In J, every verb has what might be called a natural, or 
> intrinsic, rank for its argument(s). Here are some examples 
> to illustrate. For the first example, consider:

*: 2
4

*: 2 3 4
4 9 16

> Here, the arithmetic function "square" naturally applies to 
> a single number(a 0-cell). When a rank-1 array (a list) is 
> supplied as argument, the function is applied separately to 
> each 0-cell of the argument. In other words, the natural 
> rank of (monadic) *: is 0. 

are you saying that functions in numpy also have intrinsic rank for
its arguments. Do some numpy functions have 0 rank regardless
of the rank of their arguments? 


> To be array based, and to use a semantics of tacit programming, appear to me
> as separable capabilities.  Numpy doesn't try to be like J in this latter
> sense.  APL isn't quite like J in this sense either, yet is array-based as
> well.
> 
> Kirby
> 

I agree, but Paul talked about J "semantics and behaviour". J has tacit
semantics so I was wondering if numpy also has this feature. You are saying
that numpy doesn't use tacit programming semantics.


Here is something I got from:

http://www.unb.ca/web/transpo/mynet/Iverson_APL.htm

> Tacit programming offers several advantages, including the following:
> 
> 1. It is concise.
> 2. It allows significant formal manipulation of definitions.
> 3. It greatly simplifies the introduction of programming into any topic.



Daniel




*
OpenWorld Learning
http://www.openworldlearning.org


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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-26 Thread kirby urner
Here is something I got from:
http://www.unb.ca/web/transpo/mynet/Iverson_APL.htmThanks Daniel, interesting paper.Teaching resources around J have grown since that 1991 date.  Roger Hui's 'idiosyncratic introduction to J' is one of my favorites.  The ability to write 'labs' in J, interactive tutorials that work from the shell, is something I'd like to see better developed in Python.
Kirby
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Re: [Edu-sig] Textbooks

2006-02-27 Thread kirby urner
Good choice.I also like courses where no text book is required (in the sense of buying some thick heavy thing made of wood pulp).Publishers are moving to electronic formats.  True, reading on a screen is sometimes a drag.  On the other hand, with 7 billion teachers and students, it's asking too much to always have hardcopy.
Kirby
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