Re: [Visualpython-users] Installer issues

[Bruce S. <bas...@un...>]

Sounds interesting indeed, Arthur. Thanks for the overview. It doesn't
matter that the Mac is out in the cold, I suspect. If ScITE runs on Linux it
should run on Mac OSX + Apple X11, which is also the only environment where
idlefork has a chance of running on a Mac.

Indeed, the terminate program issues in idlefork are being addressed. An
advantage of the separate process is that if something goes wrong in the
run, the editing environment is still up.

Another feature important for my uses is the automatic save that is done on
a run, which protects students from losing work. Is that a possibility in
ScITE?

I don't care at all about the interactive capability and I don't have my
students use that facility at all. For novices the Python shell is a bad
environment, because it undercuts the notion of a program as a thing to be
executed, and edit and import history in the shell is very murky. In
contrast to what some others think, to me the shell is useful only for
experts. And when there is one-key rapid turnaround as there is in idlefork
(and I gather in ScITE) the need for a shell is extremely small.

I should indeed take a look at ScITE. I vaguely remember bouncing off it a
long time ago, but I now forget why. Maybe it was Windows-only at that time?

Bruce Sherwood

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur" <ajs...@op...>
To: "Bruce Sherwood" <bas...@un...>;
<vis...@li...>
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Visualpython-users] Installer issues


> > I had the vague notion that ScITE is Windows-specific -- right or wrong?
>
> Windows and Linux GTK.   Mac out in the cold, once again.
>
> >
> > Highlighting Visual keywords might be nice, but it is really the high
> > interactivity of idlefork that matters to me. Anything that offers
one-key
> > edit/run cycles is what I want, and what I want for my students. Is that
> > possible with ScITE?
>
> Absolutely.  Out of the box, it works with about 25 languages.  One thing
I
> do in my cusotmization is narrow it down to 1 - Python.
>
> F5 is "Go" - run Python against the current script.
> Cntrl 1 runs a Python syntax check.
>
> No "seperate process" issues as in the standard IDLE, that as per your
> posting - confirmed by own own testing of alpha2 - have not been corrected
> yet in the merged IDLE. (Though I am confident it will be.)
>
> And the opportunity to go much further down the road toward VPython
specific
> customization beyond simple keyword syntax highlighting -  like VPython
word
> completion (cntrl enter), hints, etc.
>
> A good counter argument is the importance of IDLE's inactive prompt. Which
I
> happen to believe *is* important. I happen to use IDLE only for that.  And
> have never found it strange to use it only for that and something else for
> editing.   But there is an argument to be made that an "all in one" tool
has
> its advantages.
>
> PyGeo does not work at the interactive prompt the way VPython can.  So
> perhaps I am prejudiced by that, and that IDLE does make more sense for
> VPython than it might for PyGeo.
>
> Anyway, more offering to lend assistance if you think the concept has
> merit - not selling it too heavily.
>
> Art