On 26Oct2013 12:07, John Ladasky <john_lada...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > My side job as a Python tutor continues to grow. In two weeks, I will start > working with a high-school student who owns a MacBook Pro. > > I have had students with Linux systems (my preference) and Windows systems > before, but not Macs. On my first visit, I set up each student's computer > with Python 3.x, and SciTE for editing. I would like to do something similar > for my Mac student, and I want to make sure that it goes smoothly. > > My first question is whether Mac OS X ships with Python 2.x, and whether I > need to be aware of any compatibility issues when I install 3.x. (It's 2013, > and my students are new to programming. I refuse to hitch them to Python 2.)
MacOSX ships with Python 2.x. My Mountain Lion macbook here has 2.7.2 as /usr/bin/python. I install MacPorts on my Macs (alternatives include Fink and HomeBrew, and I belive you can install them side by side; Fink uses /sw, MacPorts /opt/local and I haven't tried HomeBrew). I have /opt/local/bin in my $PATH ahead of /usr/bin, so it finds the MacPorts "python" (2.7.5) and "python3.2" (3.2.5) and "python3.3" (3.3.2). > Second: it doesn't look like I will be able to obtain SciTE for this student. > SciTE is free for Windows and Linux. Apparently, it's $42 for Mac OSX? If > I recall, SciTE is open-source, so I suppose that I could compile the source > myself. But since it is not my computer, and I'm being paid for my time, and > I haven't done much with Macs (to say nothing of building from source code), > I don't think that this is appropriate. Building from source for most projects is much like Linux or any other UNIX system. configure --prefix=/usr/local # or --prefix=/usr/local/app-version, my personal preference make && make install && echo OK You will need a compiler (your student needs XCode installed if they haven't already; it is free). MacPorts needs XCode anyway, as do the others. > I know, we can use IDLE. I continue to find IDLE clumsy. Also, there are > potential issues with event handling which arise when you use IDLE. I am > working with an adult professional who is developing a Telnet application, > which refuses to cooperate with IDLE/Tk. I had similar issues myself with > wxPython applications I was writing. While these issues may not affect a > beginning student, these experiences have informed my choices. > > So, what other free and lightweight editing options do I have for a Mac? I > have found a few (fairly old) discussions on comp.lang.python which suggest > Eric (http://eric-ide.python-projects.org/) and Editra (http://editra.org/). > Opinions on these and other choices are appreciated. Personally, I use terminals (iTerm2 on a Mac in preference to MacOSX's terminal, with a shell pane beside the editor pane) and vim with syntax highlighting. And a web browser open on a local copy of the 2.x or 3.x HTML docs - I keep one of each on my desktop for easy access. I'm not an IDE person, so I can't speak to those (even IDLE). Cheers, -- Cameron Simpson <c...@zip.com.au> You want to tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing? - Toby Zeigler, _The_West_Wing_ - Election Night -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
