Summer is here, and in a few days I’m off on holiday. Aside from the eating, drinking, sleeping, sight-seeing and reading: it may be a good chance to hone my problem solving and Python skills.

I’ll be travelling light, taking in the east coast of Spain. So, any coding has to be done in the most portable/light-weight fashion.

Here is my pocket sized kit list for an ultra-portable programming environment:

• Hardware:

  • Nokia E71, which uses Symbian’s S60 OS
  • Mini notebook, Moleskin Cahier style are my current favourite, small and scruffy but very handy
  • Pen

• Software:

  • Python S60
  • Ped, pocket Python IDE
  • Miso, fun python library with access to the phone’s hardware (vibrate, lights etc…)
  • Opera Mobile, for browsing HTML E-books

• Documentation:

  • O’Reilly Pocket Python
  • Dive into Python E-Book, HTML version

• Problems to solve:

  • Code Katers, exercises that aim to improve programming technique
  • Project Euler, “challenging mathematical/computer programming problems”

This list is weighted towards to those of you with Symbian phones, but most smart phones have some sort of access to a programming language.

The one of the most appealing aspects of this kit: it is super cheap. The phone was “free” on a 1 year £25 p/m contract, the O’Reilly Book is about £6, pen and notebook another three quid: that’s a cheap way to learn some valuable skills.

I’m sure there are a ton of alternative setups (Android, Windows Mobile, Palm, I-Phone?). A bare minimum set of requirements could be: a text editor and a web browser capable of parsing JavaScript (this may be possible on not so “smart phones”).

If you’re using an alternative setup, or have another way to program on the move, please add it to the comments.