This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.
Last week's bootcamp at Macquarie University went well: I fumbled the introduction to Python on Friday morning (which I haven't done in a long time), but with a bit of help from Eli Bressert and great crew of helpers, we got the afternoon back on track. Here's the usual good vs. bad feedback:
| Good | Bad |
- Understanding the syntax of Python
- The stories
- The flow of material
- Cygwin
- Linking programming to thinking
- Understanding size of manageable tasks
- Version control
- Sticky notes
- Embedding provenance in files
- Database concepts
- Learning good work habits
- Coding with loops
- Free!
- Let people make mistakes and then correcting
- Interactive nature of the learning experience
- I got to show my work to real human beings!
| - Installation
- The stories
- Python introduction (Greg screwed up)
- Some programs don't work on some people's computers
- Air conditioning
- Struggling to switch between languages
- Bit more practice with coding
- Python in Cygwin sucks
- "You should only work eight hours a day" — yeah, right
- Not enough on databases
- Couldn't see the screen
- Discovering R isn't as good as I thought it was
- Not having enough examples
|
