Release Notes

The following changes have been made to the classroom materials over time. Look for annotated Git tags that match the headings below.

The full changelog is available on GitHub.

Unreleased Changes

  • Merged several documentation fixes from Markus Khouri. Thanks Markus!
  • Began migrating documentation into the Jupyter/IPython notebook. This gives the students a more integrated path through the course, with less jumping between the static docs and the live environment.
  • Added some tools to help with course content development:
    • Added a requirements.txt file for use in setting up a Python environment with the necessary tools.
    • Added a Fabric script (fabfile.py) to help automate tasks performed while developing and delivering the course.

2015-08-01

  • Fixed the lab server controler to work with the latest version of gspread, which requires OAuth2.
  • Changed the source location where we pull the Canary JAR file. The CanaryMod project is going through some changes, and have reorganized where files are available on their web server.
  • Added a dirty hack to work around a problem that Canary seems to be having in determining the UUID of the players listed in ops.txt on startup. I’ve had to put this reactive code in the run-canary.sh script to do the job after the player joins the server. A better long-term fix is to find the root cause in Canary itself.

2015-05-09

  • Upgraded to CanaryMod 1.2.0 (compatible with Minecraft client version 1.8), version 1.3 of the RaspberryJuice plugin, and the latest python libraries that support them. This brings some new programming capabilities, such as being able to have Python code receive messages from the game chat.
  • Added Martin O’Hanlon’s Minecraft Turtles so that students can use the library and run the examples. This gives students a logo-like model for writing programs.
  • Upgraded to IPython 3.1.0. This improves the development user interface. It also changes the “branding” of the development UI from “IPython” to “Jupyter”.
  • Removed many calls to the obsolete server module from example scripts in the examples folder (thanks to Joshua Fasching).
  • Fixed a problem where it seemed to rain in Minecraft from time to time.

2015-02-21

  • Simplify the generated world in the student lab instance to make it better for programming projects. Now, the students are placed in a “FLAT” world (no terrain, no biomes, no structures, no mobs, etc.), and the weather is clear.

  • Reorganized the exercises and examples into subfolders, and converted all the previous *.py files into *.ipynb files so students can load them directly in IPython.

  • Improved our classroom exercises:

    • Exercise 1: Reformatted Hello World to be a single code block so that it’s easier to run, added some hints, and added some extra challenges.
    • Exercise 2: Took out the TNT Pyramid (which was too big and distracting), pointed students to the online help and guided tour, wrote more about added the REPL environment.
    • Exercise 4: Added a delay so students have a chance to observe what is happening as the script runs, added some extra challenges.
    • Exercise 5: Added a field of wool so students have something that will react to sword strikes.

  • Updated some example scripts to work better in our new student environment.

  • Upgraded to CanaryRaspberryJuice version 1.2. This added methods such as getPlayerId(playerName), getDirection(), getRotation(), and getPitch(). This also includes version 1.1, which added various entity methods.

  • Upgraded to IPython version 2.4 in the student lab server instance. This is a significant upgrade from the prior version, which was IPython 1.3. The main student-visible differences are that IPython can now navigate between directories, and the Notebook web UI now has separate Edit and Command modes.

  • The docs for setting up a local, Vagrant-based lab environment have been updated to work much better. It now uses exactly the same environment and setup that students get when attending a CoderDojoTC event. The solo-server docs and files have been removed.

  • The Lab Server Controller now accepts the name of a docker image (and version tags) in its configuration file. This makes it possible to use different lab images in different environments, which is particularly useful in testing a new image before committing to using it for a specific CoderDojo event.

  • Lots of documentation updates, including new docs for Mentors.

  • For people working on updating exercise or example code through the IPython notebook interface, launching a student lab instance with Vagrant will now copy the local working directory into the folder where IPython can edit the files. If there is no Vagrant-provided folder, the code will be retrieved from the Git repository specified in the private_config.yaml file.

    By itself, this copy from Vagrant into the IPython notebook folder is a one-way-street. Edits made there will not be visible on the Vagrant host (where they can be committed to source code control). However, there is also a script installed in the image called sync-notebooks.sh. It can be run as follows from the Vagrant host, and it will invoke Unison to sync up the changes:

    docker exec -it python-minecraft_default_1424407654 sync-notebooks.sh

2015-02-07

  • The table of contents and navigation between chapters has been improved. Some of the section index pages have been improved.
  • Improved the layout of the Lab Instance Connection card, and its related documentation.
  • Some unnecessary documentation files have been removed.

2015-01-24 and Before

Release notes are unavailable prior to the February 7, 2015 session. Please consult the git log for details of prior releases.