Summary: <p><a href="http://pythonoutloud.com/1" rel="nofollow">Episode 1 Show Notes</a>: <a href="http://pythonoutloud.com/1" rel="nofollow">pythonoutloud.com/1</a></p> <p>These show note were written on the Shinano Train, on Kevin's smartphone, steaming toward the Snow Monkey Park in Nagano, Japan.</p> <p>In Episode 1, we discuss the infamous programming challenge known as FizzBuzz (no space), Fizz Buzz (with a space), or fizz_buzz (in PEP8-friendly syntax). We start off with its origin story, a math game used to teach children division. We then debate whether sitting around in a circle and taking turns saying “one, two, fizz, four, buzz, ...” is as fun in the digital age.</p> <p>Even less fun? Fizz Buzz's reputation as a job interview question. For more about this version, see the well-known blog post by Jeff Atwood at <a href="https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/" rel="nofollow">https://blog.codinghorror.com/why-cant-programmers-program/</a></p> <p>We're still not sure whether Fizz Buzz, or any other math-heavy question, is suitable for determining someone's capacity as a programmer. But as a learning tool, Fizz Buzz does provide a compact way of demonstrating a wide range of programming topics, including variables, conditionals, and loops. The only downside is also needing to learn modular arithmetic: <a href="https://nrich.maths.org/4350" rel="nofollow">https://nrich.maths.org/4350</a></p> <p>And if you need even more math in your Fizz Buzz solution, look no further than this blog post by Joel Grus: <a href="http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/" rel="nofollow">http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/</a></p> <p>Rounding out the episode, we share some project updates, including Kevin's recent Medium article on "Automating Surveys with Python, Qualtrics API and Windows Task Scheduler": <a href="https://medium.com/@changkevin/automating-surveys-with-python-qualtrics-api-and-windows-task-scheduler-4bffc58726d7" rel="nofollow">https://medium.com/@changkevin/automating-surveys-with-python-qualtrics-api-and-windows-task-scheduler-4bffc58726d7</a></p> <p>Neither of us is affiliated with Qualtrics in any way, but we did publish a qualtrics-mailer package on PyPI a few months ago: <a href="https://pypi.python.org/pypi/qualtrics-mailer/0.1" rel="nofollow">https://pypi.python.org/pypi/qualtrics-mailer/0.1</a></p> <p>This episode features the song "Happy Ukulele" by <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/" rel="nofollow">Scott Holmes</a> and the songs "And So Then", "Curiousity", "Manhattan By Moonlight" and "Puzzle Pieces" by <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/" rel="nofollow">Lee Rosevere</a>.</p> <p>Thank you for your support, and stay tuned for Episode 2. We plan to continue discussing problem solving in Python, focusing on <a href="http://www.pythonchallenge.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.pythonchallenge.com/</a>.</p> <hr> <p>If you’re still reading, there's a statistically significant chance you want to help us build a community and support our cause! If our prediction is correct, please visit <a href="http://pythonoutloud.com/donate" rel="nofollow">pythonoutloud.com/donate</a>. We want Python Out Loud to be community driven and non-profit oriented, which is why we pledge to be transparent and donate anything in excess of our operating expenses to the Python Software Foundation (PSF). For just $3, we'll even mail you a limited-edition Python Out Loud sticker!</p> <hr>
