Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

I am working on a Book/Tutorial for teaching newbies how to program using Python. I want it to be especially focused on Maemo development. I decided to put it in Google Wave as a way of testing the open development methodology and as a way to test Google Wave itself.

All the content of the wave will be understood to be provided under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

The versions of Python and other libraries targeted by the wave will be initially the ones available on Maemo 5 at the time of the N900 release. That means Python 2.5.4. As Maemo starts moving to more recent versions of Python we will attempt to keep this wave in sync.
This is the Table of Contents so far:

• What is Python?
• Why Python?
• Installing Python
• How Python works.
• The building blocks of a Python program
  • Variables
  • Expressions
  • Numbers
  • Strings
  • Lists
  • Tuples
  • Dictionaries
• How to program in Python
  • "for" loops
  • "Truth" tests
  • "while" loops
  • "if" statements
• Functions
  • Defining a function
  • Namespaces and Scope
• Modules
  • Maemo/N900 specific modules
• Working with files
• Classes and Objects
• Errors and Error Handling
• Other common built-in functions
• Time
• GUI - Qt development
• GUI - GTK development
• Bibliography (attributions)

I am looking especially for developers that can help me with the still incomplete sections (items in red).

[Edit:]
Regular users can read the finished areas of the tutorial here:

http://www.themaemo.com/python-for-newbies/

I have a few Google Wave invitations that I will reserve for Python developers. If you are a Python developer and would like to join Google Wave send me a PM with your email address. The only requirement is that you make at least one edit to the wave.

[/Edit:]

I hope this is fun and helpful. :)

PS: I will be out all evening. If I don't respond immediately, don't panic. ;)

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

This is what I was looking for !

I'm quite experienced in PHP and would like to develop for the N900 without having to learn C/C++.

Thank you for your work and good luck !
If you want to make a html/php version of it, I can host it on my dedicated server ;)

EDIT : I already have a Wave account, could you please send me the link ? (this is the first time I really think it can be useful)

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

I need to know your Google Wave account in order to add you to the wave. If you don't want to post it here, just send me a PM.

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

Same here, although I wouldn't necessarily say I am "quite experienced" in PHP, more than I can hack my way around with a little help from Google. :-p

I have to admit, so far I am not loving the Python tutorials I have found. I find it really hard to get motivated except when diving right in developing something I really want. As such I want to learn Python on the N900 rather than learning it on desktop Linux first - as I can't think of anything I would want to write for desktop Linux.

I do not have a Wave account btw.

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

I sent it to you by PM.

Alex Atkin UK => Maybe I was a bit over-confident when I said I was "quite experienced", it's just that I've been using it for years and that generally I can achieve what I want with it.
Also, as you, I can't really learn a programming language if I haven't a project for it, and I have one for Python on the N900 :p

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

Hmmm... The point of that wiki is not clear and obvious for me... There's nice tutorial and documentation on official Python site, there's 'Dive into Python', PythonInfo Wiki, PythonOnMaemo (there are really good examples and links to hildon-specific bindings, documentation etc.). So what's the point of making one more? Only if you want to get together all the information from those resources.
Remember: 'batteries included' ;)

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

Well, I think you answered your own question. I also want it to be very newbie friendly. Some of those tutorials, like 'Dive into Python' assume you already know quite a lot. I have added a few programming newbies into the wave. I am anxious to hear what they think. ;)

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

Hello!

I think this is a great idea and it might be just the thing I am looking for.

I´m a newbie in coding, I have the basic understanding what it is, but nothing concrete, especially in Python. I know some basic HTML/CSS and I´m currently trying to learn more of it, as I just enrolled for a Web publishing course at my uni.

I had/have a few ideas for applications for Symbian and considered learning to develope for it. Somehow I felt that the starting phase was a bit overwhelming and couldn´t really visualize my idea becoming an app(in a considerable amount of time), so the "spark" to learn slowly died.

Now, thanks to the N900 and Maemo, I feel the spark has ignited again. Unfortunately I´m quite cramped, timewise, and don´t know how much time I have to put in to this, but I´d love to participate as much as I can.

I also have to admit, that one of the reasons why your project seems so interesting is, that it´s done through Wawe. So I feel, that I could learn two things at once, which is always nice. Unfortunately I don´t have a Wawe account. So if you still have those newbie invites left, I would appreciate one. It seems that I´m unable to send PM´s(Why is that? Not enough posts??) so here´s my mail: Edit: Thank you for the invitation.

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

I have added you to the list of people that Google is considering for inclusion in Google Wave. Most likely you will get your account in one or two days. You can edit your message above to remove your email address if you want. Let me know when you get your account so that I add you to the wave.

Re: Python for Newbies on Maemo - Google Wave
 

Do you have example code for talking to the N900's location services (liblocation)?