[lug] First Programming Language

[Scott Kruger]

Python is the fastest growing language, which is important
for non-dev people:

https://blog.sourced.tech/post/language_migrations/
https://insights.dice.com/2016/02/01/whats-hot-and-not-in-tech-skills/
http://pypl.github.io/PYPL.html

in terms of support, attractiveness to employers, etc.



For simplicity of web apps for non-technical people, this
is a pretty cool project:
https://anvil.works

But it may take care of too much of what this project
is about.


Flask is probably the best with the wealth of tutorials
and projects out there.

Scott


On 1/3/18 7:29 PM, Steve Sullivan wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> This is a bit off topic but I'm hoping for some help ...
> 
> My daughter wants to learn her first programming language.
> She's a business major in college, and as part of an independent
> study class, she can choose which language.
> The demo task is three layers ...
> 
>      1. A front end, probably just HTML/CSS
>      2. A web server -- not her problem.
>      3. A back end, to query a simple DB and return an answer.
>        This is where she would learn her programming language.
> 
> One of her friends is recommending learning Javascript, but I
> think Python3 would be a much better choice.  It's more general
> purpose, and more likely to be useful in her future.  Here are my
> thoughts on the demo project, starting at the back end.
> 
>      3. The backend ... She could learn Python3 and Sqlite, and use
>      the Python WSGI interface from the web server.  The backend might
>      be slow, but it would give her an overview of Python3 and WSGI,
>      and a taste of SQL.
> 
>      2. The web server ... Either find someone else's existing web
>      server, so she doesn't have to fight setting up Apache or
>      whatever, or find a very simple web server offering Python the
>      WSGI API.  She shouldn't waste time fighting web server
>      configuration issues.
> 
>      1. The front end ... She already knows the basics of HTML and
>      CSS, so this should be straightforward.  No Javascript!
> 
> What would you recommend?
> 
> As far as Python3 beginning books and sites, are there any you'd
> recommend?  Looking at Amazon, Matt Harrison's Illustrated Guide
> to Python 3 looks good.
> 
> Rather than ask her to learn a full IDE, my thought is just use
> the Python3 command line interface.
> 
> But then I'm old fashioned ... would you recommend command line?
> Or is there a simple to learn IDE you'd recommend?
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> 

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