I've designed Python fantasy cards to learn it easier | Hacker News Reader

I've designed Python fantasy cards to learn it easier

summonthejson.com

73 pointstomaszs42 comments

They're very pretty.

But I really don't understand the meaning/value of most of the shown descriptions. (I see that the creator is not from an English-speaking country, which may explain also why the grammar is clumsy and none of the final sentences end in punctuation and some of the final sentences aren't sentences.)

> "pprint(): You ask a wizard to transform a heavy encyclopedia to a creature that will look lovely. He changes it into a sheep"

Why a creature? Why a sheep? What qualities do sheep have that encyclopedias don't? Is pprint wooly? Does it bleat?

> "tuple(): A creature and a ghost. One of numerous tuples you can create with this function"

Why a creature? Why a ghost? What does it even mean to call tuple a creature and a ghost? And this is self referential in a completely opaque way. If I don't yet understand "tuple", how am I to understand "tuple"?

> "set(): You threw all unique items into a chest you have found. Soon it became cluttered and unordered."

Describing a set as "cluttered" (as opposed to granting immediate membership evaluation) and saying that you only put unique items in (as opposed to the set removing duplicates for you) IMO completely obscures the entire definition and purpose of sets.

Maybe the game's instructions would clarify a lot, but looking just at the cards themselves as a person who has been programming in and also teaching Python for 15 years now, my primary reaction to "STJ: Python will help you learn to program" is "I don't think so. I actually think this might hurt."

You are overthinking it. You don't design fantasy cards with art to make sure all the technical details are right. You design them for fun and to make sure that the intuitive ideas and recall of all the python std functionalities remain at the tip of the tongue.

They cost 50$. The least they should do is teach me a certain amount of Python. Calling a tuple a "creature and a ghost" doesn't tell me what a tuple is.

You still don't get it. It's about drilling recall in a fun way, like Anki flashcards. You obviously have to use another source.

Why not "drill recall" by actually using the language, for example doing advent of code puzzles? This is a lot of money just to have simple functions printed on playing cards.

Then don't buy it.

Well the first use case on the website is for someone who is 'looking to become a programmer', so it doesn't sound like the goal is simply for someone to recall their own knowledge of the standard python language.

You may be under thinking it. You still want to capture the essence of the function / keyword in order to build the intuitive understanding and make linkages that help the reader remember.

Ex: One good thing about the tuple example is that it sort of highlights that we can have mixed types. The bad thing is that it doesn't do much else..

> "He can reduce an army to a sum of axes he wins"

Yeah, it's quite strange. I can't imagine learning Python this way.

Thanks for your feedback.

Actually I was talking with several coding educators and they all agree it is great help to learn how to code. Many of them actually buy decks for their students.

But I agree the page description can be better at explaining the value.

Also you are right there were some language issues that are now solved because the deck was double checked and corrected by english native proofread and educator.

This is a good first effort, but I would do some retooling if I were you. It's going to take more time but you really need to find a way to make the concepts, mechanics and descriptions more interrelated.

For example, you might have a card called List Comprehension, which allows you to apply some effect X over all creatures of type Y.

Additionally it would be worth your time to hire a native English proofreader. There are several grammatical errors that I noticed, and some of the sentences are awkwardly constructed. Feel free to reach out to me if you'd like assistance in that regard.

Thanks for the feedback and your offer. English language is not my native one, that is why decks will be proofread by a professional english educator and a native speaker before being shipped. The same goes for the product page that is waiting for the final check.

You have something here. Python the card game. You have a list of monsters, create tuples in your list (which is a group of monsters that can be thought of as one object).

Just an update: Python deck is now double checked by a native English proofreader

While I agree with many of the comments from a pedagogical perspective, I still want to congratulate you for launching and having clearly invested a lot of effort into this project. Good luck!

This looks a lot to me like a cute-but-convoluted way of just reading the standard library documentation... but whatever works for you. I like it for the novelty, but I doubt I'd ever legitimately use it as a reference or for education.

Actually they are really cute flashcards and its not a convoluted way to remember this information but actually it applies active recall to python.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashcard

I knew what each of the functions did and I still had a hell of a time relating it to what was written on the cards. It's cute but convoluted is an understatement, it's obfuscated IMO, not something I'd want in a flashcard.

Please, don't start to learn a new programming language with memorizing it's API.

Could you please elaborate what API means and why, you shouldn't?

Not OP, but they mean the standard library, which is the set of functions, objects, and datatypes that come with langauge. That's not really the best way to learn a language, since you'll usually have the documentation at hand if you need it. It's more important to understand the conceptual model the language works with, so that when you want to do something you'll have an intuitive idea of where to look in the documentation and how to phrase your solution. Memorizing the standard library will simply come with usage, and isn't something you need to focus on.

Yeah. This is a fun and cute product, and I could see people enjoying it as a novelty. But it’s not even close to the proper way to learn a language.

Did you do the graphic design? I'd be interested to hear a little about the process of the design of the cards.

Your site says the cards are made by https://www.thegamecrafter.com/

You live in Poland - after having the cards made, what then? Did you ship them to Poland and you distribute them directly from there? Or do you use some sort of fulfillment service?

I notice you have a 5% affiliate program - how is that working out, is it driving sales? What approach did you take to choosing how to do that?

Decks are shipped directly from the manufacture in Wisconsin to people who want to begin the adventure

Great job - they look excellent.

The design process was rather long. The major task was to connect programming with fantasy world, and to design a deck that is helpful in many ways. First it should be practical. That is why there is a Python deck, but also Java, Javascript, C# and PHP. Secondly it should be fun for one person to play with, but also for up to four players. There were a lot of taught design decisions to make. The final result should spark the imagination, give satisfaction and show programming from a wider perspective. A fantastic journey that gives freedom and a way to express creativity. The way I see what programming is.

I've been using Python daily for probably a decade and I didn't know there was an ascii() built-in. Seems it would have been better to add a str.ascii() method for ASCII-safe encoding of an arbitrary string, then repr().ascii() would accomplish the same goal while providing a useful method for other circumstances.

https://docs.python.org/3.8/library/functions.html#ascii

I was shocked by your "people remember 20% of what they read vs 80% of what they see" statistic. I followed chain of sources, which led to a broken hp page [1]. It looks like HP pulled this number out of their ass [2]. Making a claim without a source is one thing; making a claim with a false source is another. This sort of practice is very damaging to the authenticity of information on the internet.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20111117203151/http://www.hp.com...

[2] https://policyviz.com/2015/10/21/more-statistical-fallacies/

> This sort of practice is very damaging to the authenticity of information on the internet.

If you ever inspect Wikipedia, you'll soon realize that most of the internet has already destroyed its own reputation, and worse still is people seem not to care. Wikipedia is full of misinformation, false or misleading sources, people's opinions and biases, broken links, etc.

If Wikipedia has a problem, the problem was pre-existing. There are innumerable examples of misleading textbooks and journals in history and today. At least Wikipedia has meta commentary for each article about its biases that you can investigate to read further between the lines.

I am shocked as well. Thanks for bringing it up!

I have removed the claim. Thanks for checking it out. Thanks to you the product page is more accurate and does not contain unproven fact. Have a great day!

Respect

A gamified method to learn the base functions of a language. Great idea. I'd buy a Pandas pack.

I have created a Product Hunt for Summon The JSON and invite you to vote on it, thanks: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/summon-the-json-javascript

Why "Summon the JSON"? That makes it sound like it teaches JavaScript.

"Ancient Ascians appeared. The oldest one with long beard came closer and told: "You have to save the Repository". After yesterday battle all you could think of is to save anything. A hot cup of coffee would do just fine. At least they know the way..."

AFAICT, Summon the JSON was originally for JS, and this is a python 'extension.' It's not really clear to me though whether this is either a better game than I can get elsewhere for 40 bucks, or a flashcard tool superior to what I can get from spending an hour making a deck in Anki.

These are awesome! I would have lowered the drop shadow distance a bit on the name, but otherwise great work.

Thanks! It is definitely something to look into. Great insight! Only people with eagle eye see the thing with shadow. I also think it would be done bit better. Thanks!

Very cool and exciting product. Definitely a fun way to learn python

Thank you

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