Why is python the best programming language for getting started? Detailed Python

The author lists some of the Python features and considers Python to be the best programming language for getting started.

Recently published three articles about how my art history background influenced my teaching. Now share an article on why Python is the best choice for teens and adults to get started.

What are the characteristics of the great introductory programming language? Or a different way of asking, "What should we give them when we teach them to program?" "For adults and young students, I think the following five points are very important.

Five things students get from the introductory language

• A great first-time experience, like the first page of a book, first requires "ecstasy", the inevitable frustration of learning new knowledge, but the constant enthusiasm and curiosity that is essential for young people who have never been in touch with coding;

• The ability of web programming, for career development and process technology, web programming more and more important, students have the opportunity to master a certain Web Architecture Foundation;

• Desktop programming ability, although future trends will be more transferred to the Web application, but nothing can be compared with the development and operation of a local program directly;

• Professional skills in the market, although in academic and amateur programming has been very good, but the teaching of students ' skills in the professional environment should also be useful;

• Community support and a relaxed language environment, once again, it is important for young people who have never been exposed to coding.

Some teachers or students may disagree with these requirements as an introductory language. But my point of view and experience is that no language can do the following five points like Python.

1. A great introductory experience

By convention, the first program written by a user is to print "Hello world". In all the languages that implement the "Helhello World" program, Python can be said to be the simplest. Simply enter the following in the Python compiler and press ENTER.

Interactive Python console>>> print ("Hello World") Hello World>>>

This interactive example is worth trying!

The readability of the Python code makes it the best choice for the Getting started language, especially when compared to the syntax of a lengthy and obvious Java language:

public class HelloWorld {public    static void Main (string[] args) {        System.out.println ("Hello, World");}    }

After you have written the above Java code, you need to compile and then run at the command line. These unavoidable processes make the students feel that programming is difficult. Students who enter print ("Hello World") and then press ENTER will have the opportunity and confidence to learn more.

2.WEB programming

Python is widely known on the web, unlike low-level languages like C.frameworks, and Django,pyramid and flask, which allow students to create real Web applications that are as powerful as the websites they use every day. Flask is a language that I personally like to spread, because it is combined with a free Heroku account that allows students to deploy their own simple blogs within one hours. It is also easy to add a response path for a web app.

@app. Route ("/about") def about ():    return Render_template ("about.html", Now=datetime.datetime.now ())

These lines of code are not simple, but students can understand them after a few sessions. Driven by confidence and curiosity, learning to respond to Web application requests in the most basic way is also a huge step forward.

3. Desktop applications

The web-designed PHP and JavaScript languages restrict student development of the web, but Python is also familiar with local computer development. Pygame,wxpython and other development libraries for desktop applications allow students to build and run their own desktop apps. Katie Cunningham wrote a book I think is an authoritative guide to pygame teaching. I use Pygame to teach teenagers and graduates to develop desktop applications with lots of fun.

4. Professional skills

Unlike scratch or logo language teaching, Python has a wider range of uses in both professional and academic disciplines. It is a language that can accompany students to begin and grow. If you learn low-level languages you will find Python is tightly integrated with C, and exploring higher-level languages like Ruby will find smooth transitions. If you want more compact control over your Web applications, you will find that JavaScript technology can be well integrated with the Python web framework. If you want to explore examples of functional programming, you will find that you can do this without learning a new language.

Most importantly, however, students who have a better experience at the beginning of programming will have the will and the curiosity to develop the professional skills that best meet their goals.

5. Community Support

I've written about how to make the code content. Student participation in community meetings is a more obvious way, and I often attend (more information click here). The Python community meeting is necessarily the most popular because it is the perfect place to start exploring the truth and meeting the challenges of the future.

The real part of the sample is the Turtle component built into Python, which provides a simple and efficient way to teach abstract python fundamentals. The Turtle component was first adopted by MIT's Seymour Papert, and later in the 1960 in the design logo language to be further promoted. Here you can see the latest feature Introduction to the 2009 component. Trinket makes turtle components easier to use and learn. For more information, see the interactive examples on our home page.

Use Python to teach it!

• My next article will write about the best interactive resources for teaching Python. At the same time I have listed below a list, including community resources for beginners to help, and other discussions about why Python is a great introductory language article, hope to help you!

• The Python Software Foundation maintains a beginner's tutorials and guides, all with features for the new language support.

• Special interest Group for Python education.

• A series of excellent audio-visual links that are open to python.org.

• Turn from Java to Python's university research paper. Thank you very much for the contribution of Michael Head, a graduate of North Carolina State State University.

• Life Hacker article writes that Python won the first in a poll of the best introductory language readers.

• Jessica McKellar recently stated in the Pytennessee report the status of Python education in schools and pointed out that we could take some concrete steps to support it.

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