ipythonblocks

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ipythonblocks is a teaching tool for use with the IPython_ Notebook. It provides a BlockGrid object whose representation is an HTML table. Individual table cells are represented by Block objects that have .red, .green, and .blue attributes by which the color of that cell can be specified.

ipythonblocks allows students to experiment with Python flow control concepts and immediately see the effects of their code represented in a colorful, attractive way. BlockGrid objects can be indexed and sliced like 2D NumPy arrays making them good practice for learning how to access arrays.

See these demo notebooks for more on using ipythonblocks:

• Practicing with RGB_
• Basic usage_ with explanations
• Fun examples_
• Animation_
• ImageGrid_
• Going from a JPEG to BlockGrid_ and text
• A programatic firework animation_
• Using ipythonblocks.org_

Install

ipythonblocks can be installed with pip::

pip install ipythonblocks

However, the package is contained in a single .py file and if you prefer you can just grab ipythonblocks.py_ and copy it to wherever you want to use it (useful for packaging with other teaching materials).

Dependencies

Required dependencies:

• Python_ >= 2.7
• IPython_

Optional dependencies:

• requests >= 1.0 (for posting and getting to/from ipythonblocks.org)
• Pillow_ (for creating images)

Testing dependencies:

• pytest_ >= 2.3, (for the test suite, see below)
• responses_ >= 0.1
• mock_ (dependency of responses)

Demo dependencies:

• PIL_ (for starry_night_to_text.ipynb)

Testing

The test suite is written using pytest_, so you can run the test suite with::

py.test

.. _IPython: http://ipython.org .. _Practicing with RGB: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/learning_colors.ipynb .. _Basic usage: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/ipythonblocks_demo.ipynb .. _Fun examples: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/ipythonblocks_fun.ipynb .. _Animation: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/ipythonblocks_animation.ipynb .. _ImageGrid: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/ipythonblocks_imagegrid.ipynb .. _JPEG to BlockGrid: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/starry_night_to_text.ipynb .. _firework animation: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/Firework.ipynb .. _Using ipythonblocks.org: http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/raw.github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/master/demos/ipythonblocks_org_demo.ipynb .. _ipythonblocks.py: https://github.com/jiffyclub/ipythonblocks/blob/master/ipythonblocks/ipythonblocks.py .. _Python: http://python.org/ .. _pytest: http://pytest.org/ .. _requests: http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/ .. _PIL: http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/ .. _Pillow: https://python-pillow.org/ .. _responses: https://github.com/dropbox/responses .. _mock: http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/mock/ .. _ipythonblocks.org: http://www.ipythonblocks.org