packages – Code Notes

Packaging apps

This is a summary of a news nerds discussion in early November 2019.

Grunt and Gulp are old news, although still used.
Webpack is difficult but widely used.
Rollup is simpler than Webpack, and good.
Microbundle is even easier than Rollup, and suitable for smaller modules.
The Airbnb JavaScript Style Guide is opinionated but useful for establishing and following conventions.

A long but clear explanation of the whole module-bundling process is Modern JavaScript Explained For Dinosaurs (2017).

Installing Python for beginners

Students really struggle with setup. By the time they’ve finished setting up Python, Jupyter Notebooks, etc., they’re ready to quit the course and not even learn Python at all — especially students using Windows.

I think with Miniconda I’ve finally tamed that beast. Here are my instructions for students, in one Google doc. Feel free to copy and edit it for your own use.

http://bit.ly/mm-conda

Python 3.x for the win

Good news, I think.

“Today, there are very few libraries that do not support Python 3. Python 3 Readiness shows that 342 of the 360 top packages for Python support 3.x.” (Read more. A link-filled resource.)

I learned Python from Zed Shaw’s Learn Python the Hard Way, which predisposed me to use Python 2.x. Also, as a Mac OS user, I already have Python 2.x without downloading or installing anything. Little by little, though, I’ve started to do all new projects in Python 3.x.