long time lurker, first time poster. i apologise in advance if this has come up before and i haven't seen it.
i'm interested in learning python purely as an intellectual excercise - writing small scripts in a 'crossword puzzle per day' kind of thing (i have a long train commute ;-).
if i get to the point where i can actually do something useful, that would be nice but would be an emergent property of the puzzles, not the aim (although with enough 'puzzles', the distinction becomes moot).
i've been lurking and every time i see something that i can have a good chance of doing, i have a go. my problem is that with my limited programming experience (<25 hours), i am quickly out of my depth and defining my own questions at this level is often an excercise in futility. Similar with the majority of the tutor issues.
my question is this: would the tutor FAQ have a use for a collection of excercises/puzzles that could reasonably be expected to be completed in less than say, 20 mins (a nice sized intellectual chunk for someone that doesn't code for a day job) for someone with x hours programming experience?
i would suspect that at a certain point (>50 hours?), a newbie would have the momentum to start teaching themselves via documentation and leveraging the tutor mailing list.
it's probably hard for the tutors here to remember just how difficult it is to get that critical mass needed to really start teaching yourself. an upside to creating a puzzle FAQ would allow concepts to flow naturally as the complexity of the problem increases and newbies could share a common experience curve. i'm not trying to suggest a one-size-fits-all list, more of a puzzle-soup where you can wander as your self-learning flows. i would imagine designing a nice discreet puzzle to illustrate or challenge a programming concept might be an enjoyable pass time for some people. a good puzzle is one where you know you have a good chance of success - too big a jump and frustration saps your motivation.
I heartily approve of the python challenge and perhaps more of these would be a suitable way to do this. I've tried the cookbook but most of the problems are beyond me at this stage so i can't self study the code for hints.
Anyway, would appreciate any comments on the idea.
cheers,
joe
_______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
