Programming club at school

[Gikjv]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, so I'm sorry if this shouldn't be here.

My Digital Technologies teacher found out that I was learning python, and after many long discussions during lunchtime breaks we have decided to start a programming club during Monday lunchtimes. (But we have decided to call it 'The Coding Club' because that name is more catchy).

My Digital Technologies teacher has decided that python would be a good language to start with. The way I've been learning python is through the MagPi magazine but I don't think that would work in a group setting. So does anyone know any good sources for learning python? (My teacher was thinking of Code Academy, but he wanted to see if there were any other sources).

The second thing I would like to ask is what is the best (or the most recommended) programming language to learn after python? Personally I was thinking of Ruby.

Any advice would be much appreciated. And once again I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place

[ThomasS]

Codecademy's fine to start with and then you could move on to doing projects. I haven't moved on from Python and I don't really think its necessary. Lots of big companies like Google and Dropbox use python. However if you want to move on then I don't know about ruby but you could try C# or Pascal.

[RogerW]

I would stick to python until you really understand it. Don't just cut and paste other peoples code - understand what is going on and learn to use the manual. Do try to understand classes and the object oriented approach to programming. Look at some of the many python libraries - tkinter for graphical user interface (GUI) programming should be instructive. The socket library covers communication with other computers. Understanding these will give you a good background when you move on to other systems and languages. Remember python can be used to implement many "production" programs. Even if performance eventually becomes an issue it is avery good language to prototype ideas.

Once you have mastered an in depth understanding of python then move on to a traditional compiled language like C++. By then the transition should be easier.

Roger Woollett

[ame]

If you want a reasonable text to follow, take a look at "Dive Into Python" by Mark Pilgrim. Due to the book's licence you can find it available online, and you are free to copy it and print it (although it might be nicer and more cost-effective to buy a printed copy).

[B.Goode]

In the UK there is an organisation called Code Club which encourages and enables volunteers to go into schools to run clubs like the one you describe.

They have published projects in a number of languages for volunteers and learners to follow. Some are in python.

http://projects.codeclub.org.uk/en-GB/index.html

[Gikjv]

Thank you all for your advice I will check out those links.

I've managed to accumulate a lot of interest behind the club at school among my classmates. I was talking to a girl in Year 9 (in the New Zealand grading system, it's the same year I'm in) who I fancy a little bit. I was explaining the difference between Android and IOS cellphones and somehow I started talking about programming. She didn't even know what programming is. So it will be interesting to see who shows up to the first meeting, which will be today (Monday 25th in NZ time).

When we realized that when everyone in the club would eventually learn python we realized that we needed a second language to move onto. I originally thought of Ruby or C, my Digital Technologies teacher thought of Java.

Both python and ruby are included within the Year 11 curriculum (NCEA level) so C or C++ would be a good languages to move onto. I will pass that idea along to my Digital Technologies teacher.

The likeliness of me posting in this thread again this morning is very little, so I will write something in this thread when I get home from school this afternoon to say how it went.

[scidata]

Don't just cut and paste other peoples code - understand what is going on

That rules out 99.9% of all tutorials and documentation presently out there.

[RogerW]

That rules out 99.9% of all tutorials and documentation presently out there.

That may be true - but desirable? To be clear I am not suggesting that sample code should not be reused. However in my opinion it is worth looking at how and why code works and if possible improving it.

Roger Woollett

[scidata]

That rules out 99.9% of all tutorials and documentation presently out there.

That may be true - but desirable? To be clear I am not suggesting that sample code should not be reused. However in my opinion it is worth looking at how and why code works and if possible improving it.

Roger Woollett

I am in complete agreement. The road to perdition is paved with canned libraries and frameworks.

[rpdom]

I would recommend C as I knew python and wanted a more advanced language. It is working out nicely for me (the C) and I am having fun calculating Pi (on a Raspberry Pi). This is the book I am using for learning C is (1998 - a little outdated... but still very relevant) The C Programming Language Second Edition by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie.

There's a Second Edition out?
I'm more out of date than I thought