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Show HN: Build with Python – a beginner course where your code draws

33 points · 11 comments · davidwshao

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davidwshao · 1791142178 · focus · HN ↗
Hi HN, I built this because I watched my daughter struggle at learning Python. I made something that runs only in the browser with visuals rather than relying on CLI/terminal output. No need to worry about python installation, package versions, venv etc.
The lab runs with Pyodide in a web worker, and the program output is a picture by the side of the code block. A user would experiment with the code, and see the immediate changes in the visual output.
The course has 13 modules, with the first 6 foundation modules free, module 7-13 with free readings but guide labs for a one-time price of $49.
Please give it a try at <a href="https://scimigo.com/en/learn/build-with-python" rel="nofollow">https://scimigo.com/en/learn/build-with-python Send me feedback on the UX and on the exercise design, especially if you teach kids to program.
I am also working on a C++ version for beginners (also with browser, no gcc or command lines). stay tuned.
fwip · 1791144541 · focus · HN ↗
[delayed]
1. davidwshao · 1791147348 · focus · HN ↗
  oh thanks for the quick feedback. my bad that it was left over from the earlier starting code as a demo for the first module. I have now fixed it and the starter code is now partial, and will fail the checks unless the user completes the tasks.
aarontian0 · 1791148732 · focus · HN ↗
It has a nice interface and I really like it. I'll stay in tuned for the C++ version as well.
1. rvz · 1791156487 · focus · HN ↗
  It need a bit of work, but it looks like most slop sites I have seen unfortunately.
  1. davidwshao · 1791159925 · focus · HN ↗
    points taken, I would appreciate if you have some specifics so that I can improve on both the content and the formatting.
gnarlouse · 1791157855 · focus · HN ↗
My only feedback is $49 for AI slop feels like extortion at best, and delusion at worst. Don't give up building stuff, we should all be using AI to build ideas because the cost of developing them has dropped substantially. We should not be using them, however, to grift one another.
1. davidwshao · 1791159856 · focus · HN ↗
  your criticism well received. Yes, AI was heavily involved, but the raw python content and core viz ideas grew out of my earlier informal teaching and coaching. The advanced labs add some complexity analysis and animation. And to be honest, the $49 price is just an experiment.
2. TZubiri · 1791162721 · focus · HN ↗
  I dislike AI slop too, but we shouldn't be taking pricing feedback from anyone that isn't a potential customer, unless they are saying, "I wouldn't buy this at 49$, but I would buy it at 19$", it goes straight into /dev /null.
  Also fwiw, 49$ one time is on the very low end for about any product except mass produced (not common on early startups). It would only miss the mark for $/mo in B2C
ezra60 · 1791158582 · focus · HN ↗
CMU Academy <a href="https://academy.cs.cmu.edu/splash" rel="nofollow">https://academy.cs.cmu.edu/splash Does a great job implementing this idea and making it available at no cost.
1. davidwshao · 1791159424 · focus · HN ↗
  Thanks for the pointer to CMU CS Academy. it’s an excellent resource with shared approach on learning through visuals. it seems to be more oriented to teachers but indeed is a great resource.
zarify · 1791171861 · focus · HN ↗
Most of teaching kids to code is them understanding terminology, structure, and getting them unstuck. This has bits of information mixed with unscaffolded terminology all over the place, some hidden in collapsibles, and some just missing.
For example the `range` example in the second activity doesn't show a `for` loop's structure, how `range` is called, or what it does. One of the hints shows you the syntax for a `range` call, but nothing about loop syntax.
The hints are on request rather than at-need, and aren't linked to what's going wrong for them - doing some structural analysis of the code to decide what hint might be needed would make hints more useful. The couple of activities I looked at didn't have particularly useful hints that targeted real problems and were more of the "here's a snippet of completed code" variety, which doesn't teach anyone anything.
I'd recommend going and looking into some teaching pedagogy before building stuff, tbh.
The actual activity objectives don't look too bad, but the UI is a mess of the wrong sorts of information to help kids learn the principles.
I was curious about the tutor, but not curious enough to hand over an auth token to it. I've been building a writing tutor using local models for my kids, and it's been an interesting experience trying to provide helpful, structured information at the time they need it, rather than just asking for answers, or parsing generic advice.

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