Interactive demo for `arrow` code examples

Hello @crsmithdev,

I’ve been using arrow lately and found it really interesting. We’re also evaluating to include it in our curriculum at https://rmotr.com/ (co-founder and teacher here). It’s cool to show arrow (and also other libraries) in comparison to the built-in datetime module.

While looking at the code examples in the README file I thought it would be great to provide some interactive demo that people can use to play with the library before committing to download and install it locally.

A demo is worth a thousand words 😉

I spent some time compiling all arrow examples into a Jupyter Notebook file, and adapted it in a way that we can open it with a small service we have at RMOTR to launch Jupyter environments online. No signup required to use it, so it’s pretty convenient for people that wants to get hands on the library with a low entrance barrier. Note that arrow is already installed when the env is loaded, so people can start using it right away.

The result is what you can see in my fork of the repo (see the new “Demo” section): https://github.com/martinzugnoni/arrow

Do you think that having such interactive demo would help people to know and use arrow? Let’s use this issue as a kick off to start a discussion. Nothing here is written in stone and we can change everything as you wish.

I hope you like it, and I truly appreciate any feedback.

thanks.

[martinzugnoni]

Thanks @systemcatch for the quick response.

I preserved the output of each cell because in the sample snippets most of them were showing which was the expected output each example returns. If wanted, we can remove them and leave users run the cells one by one on their own.

There’s no hurries at all. I’ve simply put this on the table to see what you guys think about it, and see if it might help the project.

I personally love trying things on a demo before installing or signing up to a service. Even better if the demo is constructed in a way that includes meaningful examples showing the benefits of the library compared to others. Of course you can always pip install it locally and try it on your own, but starting with a blank REPL is harder to understand the true advantages or key features of the library.

I see the demo as a tiny interactive course to guide the user through the key components and features of the library.

Looking forward to hear the feedback of the other folks involved in the projects, and also from developers using it.

[martinzugnoni]

@crsmithdev sounds good! Let me know if there’s any other way you see to implement such an interactive demo. Cheers.