Entry Questionnaire results --- Programming in Python  Fall 2011


1. Reasons for taking this course (circle as many as you wish, or none):

 use in present job: 22

 prepare for future jobs (or education): 25

 personal use: 20


2. Programming experience (circle as many as apply):

 None: 1   Courses: 23   Personal: 16   Professional: 14


3. Python experience (circle one):

 None: 7   Beginner: 21   Intermediate: 2   Expert


4. Other programming languages you have used (name as many as you wish, or None):

C, shells (bash etc.), Fortran, Pascal, Basic (VB etc.), Perl,
Assembler (various), C++, Java, e, Verilog, LabView, Prolog, MATLAB,
Ada, Mathematica, GNU Make, SQL, Javascript, PHP, Forth, C#, Ruby,
AML, Lisp, Scheme, Haskell, ...


5. Operating systems you have used (circle as many as you wish):

 Windows: 31   Mac:20  Linux: 20  Other: 7 (FreeBSD, Solaris, Unixen)  None:0


6. Version control systems you have used (name as many as you wish, or None)

None: 17  svn: 7  git: 5  cvs: 4  hg: 2, Bazar, Source Depot, Perforce,
                                         RCS, SCCS, Clear Case: 1 each

7. Unit test frameworks you have used (name as many as you wish, or None)

None: 29   Qt Unit Test, Python unittest, Eclipse, VS, JUnit: 1 each

!!! Which topics would you like to see covered in this course? (Fall 2011 only) !!!

syntax 
development environments
BioPython
Object-oriented programming and abstractions
IDLE
Packages
SQLite3
What is Python used for in the commercial world?
Demand for Python programmers
object-oriented aspects of Python
list, tuple, class etc.
Unicode in version 2.x
GUIs 
GUI/Web-based applications
Mapping applications - clip, export map to pdf
Gluing stuff together, e.g. C/Fortran called from Python and vice-versa (SWIG?)
Iterators, decorators, packaging, MPI, multithreading, parallel proceessing
Flavors of Python - what does that mean?
Automating system administration tasks
git
Libraries and interfacing with hardware (serial port, parallel port)
Python with database migration
Parsing JSON
Website scripting, getting data off a website
Best practices for development
Basic algorithms/common type functionality (strings, ints, lists, dicts, ...)
 via awesome examples
object-oriented strategies
regular expressions
database programming in Python
installation automation
Python as a scripting and extension language
Python in IBM WebSphere
Everything