PyRC Diceroller

Heh. It's been far too long since I've done anything with this. Perhaps it's time to get back into the swing of things. With that then, I present to you: PyRC Diceroller. Built using IrcUtils as a library for handling the IRC protocol, PyRC Diceroller is a dicebot with support for multidie rolls & multiline output; all wrapped up in a handy Pythonic design.

Still Alive

Huge success... Eh, not really, but the song is still catchy. I'm not dead yet, nor have I entered the ranks of the undead. I will be returning from Winter Break tomorrow, and from there back into the world of debate and coding. Not much has happened on the Python front, as I am still stuck with learning Java for now, but I am going to try returning to it soon. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I wrote a "Fortunes" script in Python over break. It can stand alone, but I combine it with Samurize to display the current quote selection on screen. For your convenience: the script. The zip file contains the script, as well as a custom Fortunes file that I've been building over time. If I could figure out how to have a special format for code, I'd display it so that I could dissect it and show how it works. Here is the Samurize script as well. It has a todo list, an attractive date and time display, as well as the Fortunes display. You'll have to edit it some to point to the proper files, but besides that it should be pretty self-sufficient.

On the forensics front, not much is brewing. I've learned about IPDA debate, which is new to the Oregon college circuit, and I've been to my first tournament. IPDA is pretty much Lincoln-Douglass debate with public-style topics. Anyways, for ye few readers, keep on reading. I should be posting much more often here soon.

An Intro to Python

I guess some of you (although I'm not entirely sure who "you" are/is..." were wondering: "This blog's called Forensic Python, and we've seen a little about forensics (I graduated, so there will be a bit of a delay on that) and a lot about poems; but where's the Pythonic goodness?"

I promise, there will be more pythonic charm, starting now.

Here's a brief intro/manual for what Python is, and where to get started.

Python is a programming language. This means a formal language which you can learn and can use to translate what you want your computer to do into phrases that the computer can understand. Now that that's out of the way, on to something less patronizing.

Some advantages of Python include its high level of readability, the complete portability of its interpreter, the combination of power and simplicity it provides, and the ease of learning it. Some disadvantages include the fact that it is an interpreted language, which results in slower runtimes compared to most compiled languages.

Probably the first two places to start for anybody interested in learning Python are here:
Official Python Site
Thinking like a Computer Scientist: Python Edition
Dive into Python
The first link is to where to get Python and where the documentation is.
The second is probably the best guidebook I've seen for someone who is looking at Python as their first language. It teaches good coding habits as well as useful concepts.
If you know a language or two, the third link will probably be better for you.

A great thing about Python is that there are many great resources available for free online. I suggest finding a forum or a chatroom in case you have questions.