Let's Jump Right In (GIS4102- GIS Programming)

Starting the summer semester off is GIS programming. I have to admit being a bit intimidated with this class. My previous experience with programming involved C++ and although it was interesting to work with, I felt I wasn't connecting with it. Python, on the other hand, seems much more tangible. Being that Python is an interpreted language rather than one that is compiled, I think it will be easier to grasp. Also, given that it is the language of choice for ESRI's ArcGIS, it will give me an application to apply the knowledge to.

For our first module, it was an introduction to the language itself along with its uses, essentially dipping our toes into the water. This definitely helped shake off the intimidation factor. The screenshot shown here is the result of the script we were given to run. What it did was create the parent folder for the class under our student drive along with folders for all twelve modules, including corresponding sub folders. Quite neat, as it helped automate the process instead of creating all these folders manually.

Being that I tend to do most of the work on my local machine, I ran into an issue when attempting to install Pythonwin. While tracking down an installation file for Pythonwin, I installed another version of Python beside Python 2.7, which ArcGIS uses. Because of this, I essentially bricked ArcGIS, it wouldn't load any of the applications in the suite. After doing a reinstall of ArcGIS and uninstalling the other version of Python, everything now runs smoothly. I found an installation file for Pythonwin and used the framework of the existing version during installation. This was an interesting experience and for the sake of stability of ArcGIS, I have now learned my lesson.