The first volume of the Strype textbook series is available now.

Creative Python Programming with Strype is a series of text books, delivering a series of projects and concepts for increasing skill levels and age groups, which consists of three volumes.

Volume 1: Getting started with Python is available now. It provides a thorough introduction to programming in Python with a sequence of creative and engaging examples. A free evaluation version is available on the website.

Get it here.

Discover new features and improvements in this latest version.

Strype 2.4.1 is now available

Strype 2.4.1 is out. This release includes a new “Files” tab for better integration of files in Strype projects, performance and interaction improvements, and fixes of a number of bugs.

New features

Files tab

A new Files tab sits next to Graphics and Console in the execution area. It shows the files your programs can use:

• Built-in files (/data, images, sounds, …). You can browse them, view them (images, text, and sounds with the waveform preview), download them, and copy their paths.
• Local files (/local). You can upload single files or .zip archives, download (including as a zip), and delete them. They are kept between runs. Changes a program makes, including deleted files, show up in the tab right away and are kept even if the program is stopped.
• Cloud files (/cloud/). You can list, download and upload files from the connected cloud storage.
• Pinning: you can pin a local file so it is saved inside the .spy project file. Pinned files also survive a page refresh.
• Path helpers:
  • “Copy path” gives the path relative to the working directory.
  • Pasting a known file name or path into the code inserts it as a string.
  • /local files are offered in string-literal autocomplete.

Graphics

• New sync_graphics() function: it batches sprite updates and redraws once per call, for smoother animations.
• Image.get_pixel / set_pixel are much faster, and _bulk_set_pixels now also accepts a byte array.
• Actor.remove() can now be called on an actor that has already been removed.
• Mouse-hover coordinates now appear over the graphics instead of in the output header.

Book projects

• The book projects were reorganised to prepare for Volume 3.
• New and updated extension projects: Caesar cipher, Oscar winners (with a data file), Morse code and other chapter 6 projects, and updated sounds projects. Piano moved to a different chapter.

Improvements

• Frames converted by typing a keyword are moved to a section where they are allowed.
• Pyodide runtime files are preloaded, so Python starts faster.
• Safari’s tab bar colour is now consistent, through a theme colour; the small “paste” menu at the frame cursor is no longer showing.
• More images were added to the built-in file system.
• Text pasted at a slot’s text cursor is now its own undo step.

Bug fixes

The main bug fixes in this version are: better handling of the frame cursor navigation, focus restored properly after closing the colour picker or the media editor dialogs, improvements in the Graphics renderer and the Pyodide service for faster runs,

The full list of changes is on the version history page.

Discover new features and improvements in this latest version.

Strype 2.4.0 is now available

Strype 2.4.0 is out. This release adds new editing features, improves autocompletion and cloud storage, and fixes a number of bugs.

What’s new

• Frame numbers gutter: line numbers can now be shown next to frames. Turn this on or off in the Strype menu.
• Colour picker (standard editor): insert and edit hexadecimal colours with a new colour-picker dialog. Colours can use #RRGGBB or, new in this release, #RRGGBBAA with transparency.
• Slot shortcuts pane (standard editor): press Space on an empty image, sound or colour slot to quickly insert a media or colour literal.
• Smarter autocompletion: suggestions now match after any punctuation separator, not just after an underscore.
• More match–case patterns: str(), int(n) and complex(real=r, ...) can now be used in case clauses.
• Update notifications: Strype now asks you to reload when a new version is available.

Improvements

• Book projects have been reorganised.
• Cloud storage copes better with slow or unreachable connections.

Bug fixes

This release fixes a number of bugs, including: - spurious undo/redo actions - pasting text with an unterminated quote - examples showing as modified straight after loading - false syntax errors on semicolons - saving and loading f-strings with unbalanced braces - rotate cropping non-square images in the image editor

The full list of changes is on the version history page.

Strype has a new way of inserting frames: typing for frame insertion.

Frame-based editing has been around for some years, and was first implemented in the Stride language, within the Greenfoot environment. Strype inherited most of the semantics of user interaction for the insertion and manipulation of frames from that system.

The latest release of Strype, however, introduces a significant departure in how frames are inserted. There are now three ways to create a new frame at the location of the frame cursor: clicking with the mouse, using a shortcut key sequence, or just typing the frame keyword.

The second option – which was achieved by just typing a shortcut key previously – now requires a key sequence. Where a user typed [i] for an if-statement before, they now type the sequence [space]-[i] ([TAB] will work as well as the space key).

The most interesting option is the third: Users can now just start typing “if “ and the text will be recognised and automatically be converted into an if-frame.

Look out for discussion of this new feature in the forum discussions. More detail will be available there.

The new Strype Teachers’ Lounge has now opened with new functionality.

We have migrated the teachers’ forum to a new software platform to better support our user community. Most importantly, the forum now supports sharing of resources, which we hope will become a valuable source of material for our community members.

In the resource section, you are encouraged to share any material you have, including worksheets, Strype projects, project ideas, and anything else that might be useful.

You can also edit or add to resources (resources are based on a wiki model – everyone is encouraged to contribute), and you can leave comments for resources. Leaving comments provides valuable information for other users who might consider using it.

There is, of course, also a discussion forum for you to leave comments and ask questions.

The new forum software is written and maintained by the Strype team, and no users data is (or will be) shared with third parties.

Enjoy the new forum!