[Cross-posted to both doc-sig and marketing-python] Last week I went to the Waterside Conference, which is a conference for writers and publishers put on by my agent's company. I picked up some good leads for book ideas, some of which I'm holding to myself for a bit while I talk with my agent, but I'd like to throw out one idea that's been mentioned before as a joke: _Python for VB6 Programmers_ According to a presentation I saw, one survey claims that more than 50% of VB6 programmers currently refuse to consider upgrading to VB.net. That's a huge market for us even if we only get a tiny slice of it. I'll be glad to assist someone else to find a publisher. Any takers? Another idea that I and others have been kicking around for a while is a data structures and algorithms book using Python. Based on what I saw at the conference, I think now would be a good time to start working on that, possibly beginning it as an Open Source project of some kind. -- Aahz (aahz@pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ This is Python. We don't care much about theory, except where it intersects with useful practice. --Aahz, c.l.py, 2/4/2002
From: Aahz
[Cross-posted to both doc-sig and marketing-python]
Last week I went to the Waterside Conference, which is a conference for writers and publishers put on by my agent's company. I picked up some good leads for book ideas, some of which I'm holding to myself for a bit while I talk with my agent, but I'd like to throw out one idea that's been mentioned before as a joke: _Python for VB6 Programmers_
Actually, I've mentioned it several times to some authors and O'Reilly and I definitely wasn't joking, though nobody has chosen to pursue the project as far as I know. The last person I brought this up with was Todd Mezzulo at O'Reilly.
According to a presentation I saw, one survey claims that more than 50% of VB6 programmers currently refuse to consider upgrading to VB.net. That's a huge market for us even if we only get a tiny slice of it. I'll be glad to assist someone else to find a publisher. Any takers?
Regardless of the exact number, there are definitely a lot of VB 6 folks that feel abandoned. MS has essentially told them to switch to .NET or die. It probably represents the single largest market segment that is ripe for a switch to Python, if the right environment is in place so that they can still leverage a simple to learn and use GUI IDE and that can leverage existing COM components and build standalones. The GUI IDE part is a bit rough, but win32all and py2exe take care of the latter. VBA and VBScript are other good "switch" opportunities. Unlike VB6, you can convert VBScript code to Python code without having to deal with the GUI issue. You can already use Python within Windows Script Host (WSH) but even better you can just avoid using WSH, Python does it better on its own. You can drive Outlook and write ASP code. Pretty much everything that is in the "VBScript in a Nutshell" book can be done better with Python. http://windows.oreilly.com/ As a bonus, many scripts can be written to work cross-platform which is something that Windows admins and web developers are starting to think about more and more. The first sections of diveintopython make some attempt at reaching the VB and VBScript user by mentioning the data structures and language elements they would be familiar with, but it is quite brief. http://diveintopython.org/ Some combination of "Python Programming on Win32" and "Learning Python" is probably the right answer for a "Python for VBA/VBScript Programmers" book. So, I guess I'm agreeing that there is at least a book or two here with a potentially huge audience; from hundreds of thousands to the low millions. ka
Another idea that I and others have been kicking around for a while is a data structures and algorithms book using Python. Based on what I saw at the conference, I think now would be a good time to start working on that, possibly beginning it as an Open Source project of some kind. -- Aahz (aahz@pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/
This is Python. We don't care much about theory, except where it intersects with useful practice. --Aahz, c.l.py, 2/4/2002 _______________________________________________ marketing-python mailing list marketing-python@wingide.com http://pythonology.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing-python
At 21:14 2003-04-14 -0400, Aahz wrote:
[Cross-posted to both doc-sig and marketing-python]
Last week I went to the Waterside Conference, which is a conference for writers and publishers put on by my agent's company. I picked up some good leads for book ideas, some of which I'm holding to myself for a bit while I talk with my agent, but I'd like to throw out one idea that's been mentioned before as a joke: _Python for VB6 Programmers_
I've recently done some VBA programming, and it struck me how many similarities there are between Python and VBA. I feel that Python syntax is VBA done right! When I thought about this I realized how rare it is that you see things like Python tutorials for VB programmers or comparisions between VB and Python sysntax etc. You can find side by side comparisions between Python and almost every programming language available as open source out there, but I've never seen any text (or Python book, and I have more than a dozen of them) explaining Python from a VB perspective. Not even Hammond & Robinson does this. Considering the amount of Visual Basic programmers out there, I think this is a great book idea. Probably one of the most needed Python books right now! -- Magnus Lycka, magnus@thinkware.se Thinkware AB, www.thinkware.se
I've recently done some VBA programming, and it struck me how many similarities there are between Python and VBA. I feel that Python syntax is VBA done right!
When I thought about this I realized how rare it is that you see things like Python tutorials for VB programmers or comparisions between VB and Python sysntax etc. You can find side by side comparisions between Python and almost every programming language available as open source out there, but I've never seen any text (or Python book, and I have more than a dozen of them) explaining Python from a VB perspective. Not even Hammond & Robinson does this.
Considering the amount of Visual Basic programmers out there, I think this is a great book idea. Probably one of the most needed Python books right now!
I can get you in touch with a publisher if you need one. --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)
On Tue, Apr 15, 2003, Guido van Rossum wrote:
Magnus:
I've recently done some VBA programming, and it struck me how many similarities there are between Python and VBA. I feel that Python syntax is VBA done right!
When I thought about this I realized how rare it is that you see things like Python tutorials for VB programmers or comparisions between VB and Python sysntax etc. You can find side by side comparisions between Python and almost every programming language available as open source out there, but I've never seen any text (or Python book, and I have more than a dozen of them) explaining Python from a VB perspective. Not even Hammond & Robinson does this.
Considering the amount of Visual Basic programmers out there, I think this is a great book idea. Probably one of the most needed Python books right now!
I can get you in touch with a publisher if you need one.
Heh. That was my line, but you're obviously a better person if you've got the bandwidth. Magnus, if you want a co-author and nobody else responds to this thread here, I'd suggest posting to c.l.py and c.l.py.announce. -- Aahz (aahz@pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/ This is Python. We don't care much about theory, except where it intersects with useful practice. --Aahz, c.l.py, 2/4/2002
participants (4)
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Aahz -
Guido van Rossum -
Kevin Altis -
Magnus Lyckå