Question

Will we be graded on these assignments? I am assuming they are all coming via email, so its up to us to learn. By the way, the Monty Python films are a riot! Oh dear Lord...

Answer 1

You doing the Mechanical Mooc?

Answer 2

Are you here for the Mechanical MOOC? If, so you'll receive emails that specify what you should do. In addition, the weekly course sequence, available through a link on the Mechanical MOOC blog page, will hopefully be updated for the current October 21, 2013 sequence, and you can follow that.

There will not be grading for the Mechanical MOOC, unless you are doing it as an assignment for a particular school, in which case, your instructor will have specified a grading system. But most of the Mechanical MOOCers are doing it on their own. For them, the best place to go for support is here, for the MIT OCW 6.189 material, and to Codecademy's Q&A forums, for the exercises in their Python track.

Answer 3

Thanks @AppylPye. Answers are spot on.

Answer 4

@MOOC-E:

Will the Mechanical MOOC Course Sequence at the following link be updated to include Seq5: 21 Oct 13?

http://mechanicalmooc.wordpress.com/sequence/

The weekly dates for each of the other prior sequences are listed there.

Answer 5

Yes, a bit behind in doing that. The break this time will coincide with the US Thanksgiving holiday week (Nov 25-29).

Answer 6

OK, done. Let us know if anything looks out of whack.

Answer 7

@MOOC-E:

The calendar for the current sequence looks good. Thanks :)

Answer 8

Thank you guys, wanted t be sure. So far very informative. Just got Mavericks up and running after cloning my hard drive. Older version of Python works thus far. Anyone using 3.0? You cant divide in 3.0...

Answer 9

3.0 should never be used. It had major issues and was the first step in the 3.x changeover. 3.1.x on up is much better. I used 3.3.2 to do a number of these things, and there is a way to do integer division. Being aware of the differences between 2.x and 3.x might be more than a beginner would want to take care of, which is why 2.5.x to 2.7.x are advised.

I hope they rerecord these classes sometime with 3.3.x or whatever is in that range. It would be a great resource. Especially since things like the Coursera Coding the Matrix class require the newer version.

Answer 10

I have purchased a couple of Python books--even one by Professor Guttag. They do mention the 2.6 vs the current Python--and how the current is in fact more simplified and easier to use. Professor did mention that certain functions were allowed in one version as opposed to another.

Answer 11

@Liz(Zard),

What do you think of Guttag's book, and what other ones have you purchased? I'm thinking about which Python books to get next.

My first Python book was "The Quick Python Book", 2nd edition by Vernon L. Ceder, and I actually like it a lot. But, that second edition covers version 3, so unless you already feel comfortable with Python, it might be good to wait until completing the Mechanical MOOC before learning version 3.x.

I also have "Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist" by Allen B. Downey, which is a print version of our online textbook. The print version is not exactly the same as the online one, and it has information about both versions 2 and 3, so it also might be good to complete the MMOOC before dealing with that book. I do like the book, though. In any case, if you buy Python books online, pay close attention to which edition of the book you are getting, and what version(s) of Python it covers.

Answer 12

Getting started with Guttags book. It mirrors the lectures. Exactly what he says on the online lectures is what you find in the book.