Ken Tilton wrote:
> pps. How would Python do this?
Here's one way it could look:
defskill("absolute-value",
title = "Absolute Value",
annotations = [
"Take the absolute value of #op#.",
"The vertical bars around #op# mean 'the absolute value of' #op#.",
"Absolute value of #strn# is the 'distance' of #strn# from zero.",
"Absolute value is always zero or positive: #str|n|=n#, and #str|-n|=n#."
],
hints = [
"What do those vertical bars around #op# mean?",
"Have you learned about 'absolute value'?",
"""Absolute value can be thought of as the 'distance' of a value from
zero on the number line, and distance is always positive.""",
"The rule is:#str|-n|=|n|##str=n#. Can you apply that to #op#?",
"Some examples: #str|+42|=42#, #str|-42|=42#, and #str|0|=0#.",
"""To get the absolute value of a number such as #op#, we simply drop
any minus sign."""
]
)
> Is it possible to avoid committing to an
> implementation mechanism?
The defskill function could do just about anything with this.
Here's one possibility:
skills = {}
class Skill:
pass # fill in whatever methods you need here
def defskill(name, title, annotations, hints):
skill = Skill()
skill.title = title
skill.annotations = annotations
skill.hints = hints
skills[name] = skill
This gives you a dictionary of Skill instances indexed by name,
each one having a title and lists of annotation and hint strings.
The rest of the system can process this however required.
--
Greg
--
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
