Python F2 Class SEA-C45
Hello class,
My name is Paul, and I'm excited to be your instructor for the upcoming Python Foundations 2 class at CodeFellows!
This is a class about Python literacy, Git and Unix skills, and a little bit of data science thrown in just to inspire you and show you what's possible.
Our official designation is "SEA-C45", which you'll see all over the place (in our slack channel, in our github repos, etc.) It just means we are CodeFellows's 45th class in Seattle.
Here is a long-ish email telling you where to show up, how to prepare with pre-work due by the first day, and other useful information. Please read it all the way through.
WHERE / WHAT / WHEN:
Add these dates to your calendars. The first class is next Monday, September 14th, from 7-9pm at CodeFellows HQ in South Lake Union:
511 Boren Ave N in the basement (down the stairs) in the Hardy ("East") classroom. It's the smaller of the two classrooms, and there will be signage on that day to make it clear.
We have eight classes total, on Monday and Wednesday evenings at the same time (7-9pm) from September 14th until October 7th.
My office hours are always at 6pm before class, including before the first day. Show up early to say hi and to get some individual help from me and the TAs.
TAs will also hold a lab session on Thursday evenings, also at CodeFellows (more on this later).
SLACK / CANVAS / GITHUB
You should already have received an invite to Slack and Canvas. Please accept them.
Slack is the chat and filesharing app that will be our primary means of communication in this class. That is, after this first e-mail, I will only be using Slack and Slack-generated e-mails to make announcements. I respond fastest to Slack direct messages (@paul.pham) on the CodeFellows slack team during the duration of the class (September 14th through October 7th)
Our official channel is called #sea-c45-python so please join it, if you haven't already been invited!
Also, please download the desktop Slack client for your OS. It is much better than using the website, and you can be a member of multiple slack teams at once and switch between them easily.
Canvas is the software you'll be using to submit assignments (which are links to your github repo) and how you'll receive grades.
https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/961767
You'll need a github account in order to participate in the class, submit your homework. Here is the official class repo:
https://github.com/codefellows/sea-c45-python
I'll post a link to the official class notes soon.
It's not yet final. Be prepared to see a lot of changes and some outdated references from previous classes that will be fixed by the time class starts on Monday. But the information will mostly remain the same. We'll talk about it more in the first class, but I wanted you to have the information as soon as possible.
PRE-WORK
There is some pre-work listed on the official CodeFellows website:
https://www.codefellows.org/courses/foundations-2/python
In addition to this pre-work on Git and Sublime, I'd also like you to do pre-work from Codecademy's Python track, and the Interactive Python textbook below.
There is a lot of material to go through, but you may already know some of this from a previous CodeFellows class (like our Foundations 1). If so, please feel free to skip it. If you don't have this knowledge, be prepared to work hard to catch up.
Git Pre-work
You will need to have completed CodeFellows Unix & Git For Everyone Workshop (UGE) or have done the equivalent work as described in the README.md file below:
https://github.com/codefellows/sea-w32-uge
We'll assume you know how to use git on the command-line from Day 1, so if you need a refresher, please do the recommended git online course at CodeSchool.com and GitHub's official "Try Git" tutorial:
If you haven't done this, unfortunately, there are no more UGE workshops being offered by CodeFellows. I highly recommend hiring a private tutor to help you work through the repo above at your own pace. You can find one by joining and broadcasting in the following Slack channels, which contain students from the previous three UGE workshops:
#sea-w29 #sea-w30 #sea-w31-unix-git #sea-w32-unix-git
Sublime Text Pre-work
You should also be familiar with Sublime Text if you don't already know and love another text editor really well. (I recommend version 3, but most of the information and online courses is the same for version 2).
http://courses.tutsplus.com/courses/perfect-workflow-in-sublime-text-2
Other text editors are welcome of course, but we don't provide support for them. If you want to use vim, Atom, nano, emacs, Brackets, etc., then you are already adventurous enough to figure out how to use them to program Python in this class!
Python Pre-work
The Codecademy Python track is required pre-work if you have no previous Python experience, especially if you also have no previous programming experience in any language. Please do up to Lesson 6 (PygLatin) before the first class. Sign up for an account if you don't already have one, and take a screenshot of your progress screen that looks like this (but yours will be 100% complete!): Inline image 1
You'll be submitting this screenshot into Canvas, also on the first day of class.
Also sign up for an account at Interactive Python, an online interactive textbook, using the course name "Python-F2": This is an optional resource, in case you want more understanding than you can get from Codecademy. The recommended reading / exercises to complement the first day is the first three sections:
- General Introduction
- Simple Python Data
- Debugging Interlude I
It uses the excellent visual Python debugger by Philip Guo, which you can access directly at http://pythontutor.com
We'll give you some time in class to work on this in pairs, but start on it early if you have time.
Development Environment Pre-work
We'll cover setting up your development environment in class on Monday. If you'd like the get started early, the short version is that you'll need to install Python 3 using your favorite package manager, and after that you'll use pip3 to install use Python packages and virtualenv with Python 3 to set up new virtual environments. If you took UGE at CodeFellows, note that you must switch from fish back to bash for this class. Review your notes from UGE on how to switch shells, or ask on the slack channel.
In particular, installing the SublimeLinter and flake8 linter are key to having an awesome Python dev environment that will automatically enforce good style for you.
PYTHON TEXTBOOKS
These are not required before the first day of class, but readings will be assigned from them and due for the second class (and every class after that).
The official textbook for the course, in addition to the course notes, will be Dive Into Python 3, which is available for free online. You can also order a copy on dead trees if you learn better that way. As its name implies, you will be looking at Python at a very high-level, from the top of the diving board, and then jumping into the deep end of the swimming pool, and you may flounder a bit. DON'T PANIC :] It will stretch your brain, just take it slow, keep reading and getting wet, and eventually you will be swimming. Er, programming.
If you need more beginner-friendly reading and information, try Learn Python the Hard Way. Note that it only covers Python 2. We will be using Python 3, of which there are only a few minor differences which we'll talk about in the first class.
CodingBat is a good practice area with short coding problems to test your understanding. It requires a deeper understanding and is more challenging than Codecademy.
Whew! Okay. I know that was a lot to absorb. Please ask questions. The slack channel #sea-c45-python will get the fastest response from me and TAs, but I'll also check this email.
Happy hacking, and see you Monday, Paul