Reddit reviews Coding Games in Python (Computer Coding for Kids)

Would that be this book? The "look inside" is limited but it does include the start of the index where I see that "Actors" are discussed on page 52.

Tenga buen hombre Coding Games in Python https://www.amazon.com/dp/1465473610/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_z1e6BbTDKK48Q

This has annoyed me sufficiently that I've submitted a stinking review for the book on the Amazon UK website. It's for the flexibound edition. The review is now being held for moderation, so since it's Sunday, it might be days before it appears if at all. I can't submit a review for the US edition because you need to purchase $50 of stuff during the previous year. Maybe somebody could write something similar there, or just copy the text below?



My Review



This popular book has a huge problem that causes confusion to many of its readers. This is really unfortunate because it would have been a fine book otherwise. If you look at the reviews for the book in Amazon UK, and Amazon USA, and in many online technical-help forums, you’ll find people get lost when they try to run its chapter 5 code. It’s not just children that get confused, but many intelligent adults have big problems at that point.

Essentially, this book is about running Pygame Zero code, but before that it introduces the Python programming language. The problems start at chapter 5 when people find themselves unable to run the Pygame Zero code. Further on in chapter 5, there’s an easily missed line on page 52 that says check back to page 24. Right, you have to remember some easily-missed details in chapter 1 about the Pygame Zero environment to run the code in chapter 5, then you also have to remember stuff from even earlier about installing Pygame Zero.

Similarly, up as far as midway through chapter 4, nearly all the code examples can be typed as-is into the normal Python interpreter and they'll work. In chapter 4, there are example syntax errors that the reader is invited to fix, except that there’s suddenly one that seems unfixable because it’s not Python code but something specific to Pygame Zero (the “Actor” class) that needs extra stuff to run.

Also similarly, on page 20, it recommends the IDLE integrated development environment. Easily forgotten by page 52, where the first useable Pygame Zero code is introduced, is the bit back on page 25 where it tells you that if you're using IDLE then you need to add extra code that’s specific to Pygame Zero to top-and-tail the code.

How to fix the book for the next edition:

Give the book back to the original technical authors. Take the book out of the hands of the non-technical authors and the people concerned with the book’s look and presentation. Re-think the book PROPERLY. This is NOT something that’s quickly patched. The book needs to be restructured competently.

Give the technical authors the task of making sure that the book flows intuitively in a way that guides people through the all-critical task of installing the environment needed to run the code AT THE POINT IT’S NEEDED. The whole book fails without this. Think from the technical point of view how to introduce people to the normal Python environment, then later the Python Zero environment, and remember that nobody has a memory good enough to remember all details of a book from all of its previous chapters.