Revision of Key points in python inflammation lesson

[stevehadd]

(This issue is part of my Software Carpentry Instructor training checkout) The key points (KPs) in several sections of the Programming with Python (Inflamation data) lesson do not align with the content of the section.

• 03: Storing Multiple Values in Lists
  • "Lists are indexed and sliced in the same way as strings and arrays." Learners will often use the keypoints as a "cheatsheet" to remind themselves of what they have learnt. It would be more useful to include an example of how to index and slice a list rather than refering them to another lesson.
  • This section mentions that lists can contain any python object, including lists. This is probably worth including as KP.
• 05: Making Choices
  • "Nest loops to operate on multi-dimensional data." Not found in this section (or any section!), should be removed.
  • "Put code whose parameters change frequently in a function, then call it with different parameter values to customize its behavior." Not found in this section, should be removed as dealt with in section 6,
  • As the literals True and False are introduced here, they should be included as a KP.
• 06: Creating Functions
  • "Define a function using def name(...params...)." Would be more useful when consulted by a learner if this look like a valid function definition e.g. 'def function_name(parameter1,parameter2)'
  • Call a function using name(...values...). Would be more useful when consulted by a learner if this look like a valid function call e.g. 'function_name(value1,value2)'

[valentina-s]

Thanks! It will be great if the key points get revised to reflect the content. PR's welcome!

[yeemey]

Hi, I opened a PR for this, addressing all the suggested changes except one re: True/False booleans in ep. 05. This appears in the challenges section, and instructors sometimes skip some of them. IMO, might not be necessary in Key Points, but I defer to @valentina-s. I'm happy to add that change if you think it's better.

[valentina-s]

Thanks! Looking now at the lesson there is no explicit statement really explaining that something like 1 > 0 returns the value True. I think it is worth adding a line about that. Then we can also add the keypoints.

[vinisalazar]

Apparently this change is now in Episode 7, it was introduced by 9ff6b19.

[vinisalazar]

I expanded the example of True and False by explaining that 0 and None are evaluated as False. That's a helpful Python feature to know about, IMO.

Edit: my apologies, this is already explained in the "What is Truth?" challenge below. I modified my PR to simply include None to the existing examples in that challenge.

Edit 2: after discussion with the maintainers, I decided to close the PR. I am still willing to contribute to this issue (given the "help wanted" label), I'm just having some difficulty in identifying what work is left to be done. Any help with that is appreciated.

Best, V

[paulmaxus]

I've found this issue under the help wanted label, but it appears that all the original suggestions for corrections of the key points sections have been adopted. Should we remove the label and close the issue?

[noatgnu]

@paulmaxus yeah since it has been adopted, it should no longer be in the help wanted category