August 16, 2015

Al Sweigart on Python for Non-Programmers

52 minutes

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Summary

We got the opportunity to speak with Al Sweigart about his work on books like ‘Automate The Boring Stuff With Python’ and ‘Invent With Python’. We discussed how Python can be useful to people who don’t work as software engineers, why coding literacy is important for the general populace and how that will affect the ways in which we interact with software.

Brief Introduction

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We are recording today on July 27th, 2015 and your hosts as usual are Tobias Macey and Chris Patti

Today we are interviewing Al Sweigart about Python for non-programmers

Interview with Al Sweigert

Introductions

How did you get introduced to Python?

Started in PHP/Perl, introduced to Python in 2006

Lack of curly braces took some getting used to

Clarity of standard library was refreshing

What inspired you to start writing books for non-programmers?

Friend who took care of 10 year old interested in programming

Lack of coherent introductory material

Started writing a tutorial which grew to book length

All books published under Creative Commons license

You have written a few books about teaching Python to people who have never programmed, can you share your thoughts on the best order in which to introduce the various aspects of programming?

Blog post driven development – http://blog.estimote.com/post/119525082855/user-stories-on-steroids-how-estimote-uses-blog?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

Where does software testing come in when teaching new coders how to program?

Use the logger, debugger, and assertions effectively

In invent with Python you use games as the vehicle to discuss the principles involved with writing code. What is it about computer games that makes them so popular as a means to introduce programming to newcomers?

Something everyone is familiar with

Easy to make a simple game to get started

Good way to get creative with programming

For automate the boring stuff with Python you focused on explaining how programming can be useful even if it is not someone’s occupation. How did you determine which kinds of activities to focus on for the book?

Got the idea at a meetup talking to someone who works in an office doing repetitive tasks

A lot of office jobs that involve tedious computer work which could be automated

What are your thoughts on the need for software literacy among the general population?

How much programming knowledge do you think is sufficient for a member of our modern society?

You also wrote about using Python to decrypt simple ciphers as a means to learn about code. What was the inspiration for this approach to software education?

One of the projects in invent with Python was a simple cypher, inspired further interest in the subject

In episode 7 with Jacob Kaplan-Moss we talked about how we define what a programmer is. Can you share your opinions on what separates someone who can understand code from someone who is a programmer?

Barriers to entry have been significantly lowered, making the distinction very fuzzy

Definition of programmer is becoming much wider

Books available at:

Automate the Boring Stuff

Invent With Python

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Ex Machina

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Keep In Touch

Twitter

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