So, how did it go?

The ButtonBox had some problems. Namely: it was a calculator... that did not work! At least, not if you tried to do something along the lines of "2 + 3 - 1".

I spent half a day re-writing the methods for calculating things, remembering my reverse Polish notation - and now it works, at least as long as you don't require that multiplication has precedence over sum.

Anyway, then it was time for the MenuButton (with some help to use jhbuild) and the Tooltip.

The first one was done on the model of what was already done in Vala. As I said at GUADEC, reading Vala knowing a bit of Java is like reading Spanish knowing Italian: you meet a lot of false friends, but you end up getting the general meaning. So, Vala examples has been my reference for all the internship.

The Tooltip was done just adding some tooltips to the old Toolbar code. Simple, and there is already room for an exercise (I added the tooltips to 3 buttons out of 4 - who will complete the job? No-one but you, my dear reader!)

Unfortunately, due to a couple of constraints (time and being a bit under the weather) my work has stopped here. I plan to start again as soon as possible, to write that "custom widget" and to revise all the pages of tutorial (should the "API Reference" section point to the stable or to the unstable version? What do you think?).

So: how did it go?

How did the internship go? Are you really asking that?

Answer: IT-WAS-GREAT.

I have learned a lot (I much more proficient in Python, I have learned how to do at least the basic stuff with Gtk+, I have managed to get along with git...), I am much more confident about my skills (in programming in particular and in "keeping a job" in general), and my ability to learn something new quickly.

So: when do we start doing something new again?

Soon, I think... Watch this space!

Last but not least: another HUGE thank you to Marina, for organizing the Outreach Program for Women and to Tiffany, for being such an extraordinary mentor... thank you, really, from the bottom of my heart.

Near the end, a cliffhanger.

(As in every half-decent movie!)

The time of my internship in the Outreach Program for Women is almost over! A GIGANTIC THANK YOU to Marina, Tiffany and everybody that has given me the opportunity to participate in the OPW. I cannot start expressing how grateful I am for the chance... and for the confidence boost that comes with it!

But the time is not over yet, and I still have work to do.

I have to do: example of MenuButton (ok), of Scrollbar (ok, I guess), of StatusIcon (it has appeared there tonight: is it going to be a sisyphean work? - but ok, again!), of Tooltip (I plan to do something simple, so: ok)... and a "create your own" widget.

And that is not ok.

I am completely at loss for ideas! So, please, dear readers... if you have any suggestion, let me know in the comments! I cannot guarantee I will follow all of your suggestions, of course: but I would really love some input.

In the meanwhile, I am doing all over again my example for ButtonBox, since I was inspired by the "nifty calculator" by Daniel Sielgel. Mine should be a bit simpler, though...

(Also missing - alas, completely missing! - are the exercises for the tutorial. That will be a work to be done after the end of the internship - my goal now is to have all the examples and theory pages ready for the 20th. Yes, that includes the mysterious "custom widget"! As I told you in the title, a cliffhanger...)

Comments & suggestions, as usual - and more than usual! - are welcome in the comments.

GUADEC + 1 (actually: + 2)

OK, I got it wrong.

GUADEC did not really end on Sunday.

On Monday, I went to my first hackfest - the PyGObject hackfest. It was fantastic. Thank you to Martin Pitt and Paolo Borelli and John Palmieri and everyone (sorry, I am terrible at remembering names!) that helped me to learn so many new things. Thank you, in particular, for your patience with this beginner.

On Tuesday, I finally sat down at a table with Tiffany and we redesigned what I am doing for this summer, given the many useful suggestions we had during GUADEC. The new idea: you should be able to consult the "example" pages (which are divided into: example, code for the example, useful methods, API references, exercises) both from a page that groups the widgets by "category" (windows, display widgets, buttons...) and from a page that gives you a series of "lessons" - a more "sequential" tutorial. The former is aimed at more expert hackers, whereas the latter is for almost absolute beginners. In the latter there are also the "theory" pages (properties, the MVC design...). For the order of the tutorial I owe a lot to Taryn Fox's page here (although I changed some things).

Any suggestion is, as always, very welcome!