Monday, June 20, 2011

Progress in Research

REU Log

June 7-11 ( 22 hours)

  • Downloaded Visual Studio 10 and utilized open-source plug-in "Python Tools"
  • Started by trying out Python coding for various uses which include:

               Graphic design (June 7th)
                Animation (June 8th)
                Simple Gaming (number based no graphics) (June 9th)
               Simple Gaming with graphics (June 10th-11th)

June 12-18 (24 hours)

  • Tried more complex Python coding
    • Animated Gaming with complex sub-features (June12-14)
  • Brushed up on Java programming (online tutorials for intermediate use) (June 15th)
  • Tested Python Coding abilites by looking up complex faulty Python code and trying to debug (June 16th-17th)
  • Tried to create Python code with VPython and compared ease of use with Visual Studio 2010

Exploration of Python

After meeting with Dr. Xie, I started my research by exploring the depths of use python coding in various venues. The main venue I was introduced to was Visual Basic 2010 and I combined this with my previous knowledge of IDLE platforms such as VPython and Pygame. I created graphic, animated,non animated, and interactive (games) programs. After trying out these various Python platforms, although Visual Studio 2010 is easy on the eyes, basic IDLE platforms seem to still be easier to use, this could be biased based on my previous familiarity, but after extensive testing I believe this to be true. My next endeavor will be comparing ease of use of and efficiency of python to other languages and platforms.