Mailman 3 December 2000 - Python-announce-list

Book on Python 2 available
by Martin von Loewis Dec. 8, 2000

Dec. 8, 2000

[to English readers: This announces the second edition of Das Python-Buch, now covering (and titled) Python 2] Soeben bei Addison-Wesley erschienen ist die 2. Auflage des Python-Buchs, Nils Fischbeck, Martin v. Löwis Python 2 Einführung und Referenz der objektorientierten Skriptsprache ISBN 3-8273-1691-X Details sind unter http://www.addison-wesley.de/projector/projector.asp?page=bookdetails&isbn=… zu finden. Wesentlich Neuerungen sind: - Überarbeitung für Python 2 (neue Syntax, Unicode, C-API-Änderungen, neue Module) - Tabellarische Zusammenfassungen von Methoden und Funktionen - Dokumentation der Gtk-, Gnome-, und Glade-Module, - Dokumentation der XML-Module (mit Schwerpunkt auf PyXML), - Verwendung von omniORBpy im CORBA-Kapitel (anstelle von ILU) Viel Spass beim Lesen, Martin

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ANN: VPython for Python 2.0
by rokach＠my-deja.com Dec. 8, 2000

Dec. 8, 2000

VPython (formerly known as Visual Python) is an interactive 3D package for Python that offers real-time 3D output, and is easily usable by novice programmers. VPython is free and open-source. Platforms Supported At the moment VPython works on Windows and Linux. There is also an alpha Macintosh version. Project Homepage http://virtualphoton.pc.cc.cmu.edu/projects/visual/ Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

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In memoriam: Jak Kirman
by Andrew Kuchling Dec. 7, 2000

Dec. 7, 2000

The following message was sent to the XML-SIG list, to which Kirman was a subscriber. People who've been around for a while will probably remember the Python/Perl phrasebook that Kirman wrote around 1998. (Poking around his Web site, I came across http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/jak/people/hayley/home.html; both diarists and parents might find it interesting.) --amk ----- Forwarded message ----- Nov 10 - We are sorry to report that Jak Kirman passed away recently. Jak received his PhD from Brown in 1994. He worked as a postdoc for Leslie Kaelbling and Tom Dean for the next year and a half and served the department as an instructor for the object-oriented section of CS04. Although Jak had been having some health problems, his death was sudden and unexpected. The CS Department is setting up a fund for the education of Jak's daughter Hayley, and would be most grateful for your contributions. Please make out checks to Kathleen Kirman and send them to Katrina Avery at the address below; thank you very much indeed. Katrina Avery, Computer Science Dept., Box 1910, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. ----- End forwarded message -----

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gmpy 0.6 released (fast, high-precision arithmetic)
by Alex Martelli Dec. 7, 2000

Dec. 7, 2000

"GMP is a free library for arbitrary precision arithmetic, operating on signed integers, rational numbers, and floating point numbers" -- stands for "GNU Multiple Precision" arithmetic library, lives at http://www.swox.com/gmp/. gmpy (General Multiprecision PYthon arithmetical stuff) is (initially) a Python 2.0 module interfacing to GMP 3.1, homepage http://gmpy.sourceforge.net/, project summary page at http://sourceforge.net/projects/gmpy/. Current gmpy version is 0.6 (pre-alpha): fully exposes GMP's rich functionality for mpz (unlimited precision integers), mostly exposes mpf (multiple precision floats), mpq (rational numbers), random-number generation; not yet mpfr (enhanced version of multiple-precision floats). (Changes wrt 0.5: substantial speedup of MPQ via caching [& alloca in MSVC++], workaround for GMP scan0/scan1 bug, more precise conversions & better tracking of mpf precision, many minor additions, cleanups, doc updates, more tests. Changes wrt 0.4: completely exposes MPZ, adds MPQ, random numbers, more unit-tests & timing/examples, doc updates, sundry minor cleanups. Changes wrt 0.3: docstrings added; minor cleanups, speedups, additions; added C API and sample module; added timing/example scripts. Changes wrt 0.2: substantial speedups, additions, and cleanups. Changes wrt 0.1: bugfixes, additions, speedups...). Gmpy sources (needed for ALL platforms, as they include documentation, unit-tests, distutils' setup.py) are at: http://download.sourceforge.net/gmpy/gmpy-sources-06.zip (for non-Win32 platforms, you'll have to download and install GMP 3.1.1 separately before you can build gmpy from these sources, see http://www.swox.com/gmp/#DOWNLOAD). Gmpy binaries for Win32 / MSVC++6 are available at: http://download.sourceforge.net/gmpy/gmpy-win32-library.zip Lundy's port of GMP.LIB 3.1.1, and GMP.H (only needed if you intend to rebuild GMPY.PYD from sources with Microsoft VC++6 on Win32). ftp://ftp.whiterose.net/pub/lundman/ is also OK for this (but you have to know exactly what to get from there...). http://download.sourceforge.net/gmpy/gmpy-win32-binary-05.zip pre-built gmpy.pyd (release: pre-alpha 0.5), only needed on Win32 and if you do NOT intend to rebuild GMPY.PYD. Alex

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Python Developer Wanted
by Tim Cook Dec. 6, 2000

Dec. 6, 2000

Free Practice Management, Inc. is looking for an experienced python developer. Tkinter and Zope experience is a big plus. We are more interested in what you can and have done than how long you've been doing it. We are developing an open source application for physicians offices. Salary commensurate with experience. Work from home if you like. Some travel required. Fulltime employee or subcontractor. We will discuss the benefits available. Send your resume and salary requirements to mailto:tim@freepm.org -- Tim Cook, CTO -- Free Practice Management,Inc. | http://FreePM.com Censorship: The reaction of the ignorant to freedom.

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ZODB development page & SourceForge project
by Andrew Kuchling Dec. 6, 2000

Dec. 6, 2000

I've created a SourceForge project for ZODB development: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zodb/ A page of development-related links that will be updated as needed is at: http://www.amk.ca/zodb/devel.html The goal of this project isn't to create a fork of the ZODB code, or to make many modifications to the core ZODB packages. Instead it will focus on the surrounding tools, packaging and documentation, aiming to make the ZODB more useful for people who want to use it as an object oriented database for Python. For example, we're using it to store (Developers who want to hack on the core ZODB packages must make such sensitive changes on a CVS branch; the trunk will track DC's version of the ZODB code.) --amk

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[ANN] MoinMoin Release 0.7 - SECURITY UPDATE
by J�rgen Hermann Dec. 6, 2000

Dec. 6, 2000

A WikiWikiWeb is a collaborative hypertext environment, with an emphasis on easy access to and modification of information. MoinMoin is a Python WikiClone that allows you to easily set up your own wiki, only requiring a Web server and a Python installation. This is a security update, which explains the short release cycle. It replaces some exec() calls by __import__(), which is much safer (or actually, safe in contrast to totally unsafe). IF YOU HAVE INSTALLED RELEASE 0.5 OR 0.6, UPGRADE NOW! Thanks to Richard Jones (richard at bizarsoftware.com.au) for spotting this. Homepage: http://moin.sourceforge.net/ Download: http://download.sourceforge.net/moin/ Mailing lists: http://lists.dragon-ware.com/mailman/listinfo/moin-users http://lists.dragon-ware.com/mailman/listinfo/moin-dev New features: * RecentChanges bookmarking Bugfixes: * SECURITY FIX * Non-greedy extended WikiNames

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[FAQTS] Python Knowledge Base Update -- December 6th, 2000
by Fiona Czuczman Dec. 6, 2000

Dec. 6, 2000

Hi All, The latest entries into http://python.faqts.com regards, Fiona Czuczman ## Unanswered Questions ######################################## ------------------------------------------------------------- Idle and Pythonwin correct setup http://www.faqts.com/knowledge-base/view.phtml/aid/6842 ------------------------------------------------------------- Sven Hohage ------------------------------------------------------------- How can I setup Idle(starts with an ugly dos-box) and Pythonwin(doesn't start at all)-it is Python 2.0 on Win98 http://www.faqts.com/knowledge-base/view.phtml/aid/6843 ------------------------------------------------------------- Sven Hohage ------------------------------------------------------------- How to use Dictionary look-up http://www.faqts.com/knowledge-base/view.phtml/aid/6867 ------------------------------------------------------------- hasan kacmaz ## Edited Entries ############################################## ------------------------------------------------------------- Are there any bug tracking systems written in Python? http://www.faqts.com/knowledge-base/view.phtml/aid/1508 ------------------------------------------------------------- Nathan Wallace, Bernhard Reiter, Fiona Czuczman Alessandro Bottoni There is a nice project-management, task-tracking (problem-tracking) system based on ZOPE (and hence on Python) out there: http://bits.netizen.com.au/Xen/ XEN seems to be a quite interesting tool, really... but at time of writing (Dec 2000) the project seems to be dead. Check http://sourceforge.net/projects/midnightxen/ for a possible revival. XEN's license is not GPL compatible, because based on the NPL. You might also like to check out: http://software-carpentry.codesourcery.com/ There are two others, based on Zope (and thus python): Open Ticket: http://openticket.point-one.net/ Tracker: http://www.zope.org/Members/klm/TrackerWiki/FrontPage ------------------------------------------------------------- What IDEs, debuggers, and other development tools are available for Python? http://www.faqts.com/knowledge-base/view.phtml/aid/6433 ------------------------------------------------------------- Stephan Deibel, Bernhard Reiter There are a number of options for those that want to go beyond the basic debugging tools that come with Python itself, or want more than the commonly used text editors like emacs or vi: Commercial 1) http://www.wingide.com/wingide -- Wing IDE provides a graphical debugger with remote debug capability, source module and class browser, source editor with autocompletion, syntax hilighting and an emacs mode, and a project manager. 2) http://www.pythonworks.com -- PythonWorks is a rapid application development environment with editor, debugger, TkInter-based user interface layout tools, and deployment manager. 3) http://www.activestate.com/Products/VisualPython.html -- VisualPython is a plug in for Microsoft's development environment, Visual Studio 7. Free Software (sometimes called Open Source) 5) http://www.python.org/windows/pythonwin/ -- PythonWin is a Python distribution specifically for Microsoft Windows that includes support for MFC development, and a graphical environment with source editor, command shell, and a number of other features. 6) http://www.python.org/idle/ -- IDLE is a TkInter-based integrated development environment for Python, currently in early release form. 7) http://boa-constructor.sourceforge.net/ -- Boa Constructor, a rapid application development environment with WXPython-based GUI development capabilities, currently in early release form. 8) http://www.gnu.org/software/ddd/ --- ddd The Data Display Debugger can be hooked onto the python debugger and allows nice visualisation of source code and items on the stack. Note that this is not an IDE as entries 1-7).

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python-dev summary, Nov 16-30
by A.M. Kuchling Dec. 4, 2000

Dec. 4, 2000

Python-dev summary, November 16-30, 2000 ======================================== To comment on material in this python-dev summary, you can simply post to comp.lang.python / <python-list(a)python.org>. These summaries are archived at <URL:http://www.amk.ca/python/dev/>. It was a quiet two weeks, with only 215 postings to python-dev. Guido was on vacation, which doubtless contributed to the silence. Python standardization? ======================= Mark Lutz worried about whether Python is changing too quickly. "Things seem to be changing too fast for many developers to keep up, and it seems to me that a formal standard doc might help ease a few fears I've seen out there. Books used to be a sort of de facto standard, but even they aren't reliable anymore; and the manuals aren't useful as a standard if they are open to arbitrary change every few months." http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/027997.html M.-A. Lemburg was dubious: "I don't see how a Python standard would do any good. Standards have version numbers as well and change at about the same rate (e.g. take Unicode 2.0 vs. Unicode 3.0)." http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/027998.html Christian was more positive: "I don't see the danger of bureaucracy so much. Instead, setting a standard is a sign of maturity for a language." http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/027999.html It's doubtful Mark will gain much comfort from the discussion, because most people viewed a standard as specifying degrees of flexibility exploitable by alternative implementations of Python, which would only lead to *more* variations, not fewer. Other stuff =========== In a boring echo of the .setdefault() method, some new dictionary methods of minor usefulness were suggested, for looping through a dictionary without actually constructing the full .keys() or .values() list. As Tim points out, these methods would be handy for constructing an efficient set class: "This operation can't be done efficiently in Python code if the set is represented by a dict (the best you can do is materialize the full list of keys first, and pick one of those). That means my Set class often takes quadratic time for what *should* be linear-time algorithms." http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/028081.html Jeffrey C. Ollie notified the python-dev list that, as an experiment, he embedded Python in the Exim mail transport agent: "I imagine that embedding Python in Exim will be interesting to those folks writing virus scanners or for VERY tight integration of Mailman with Exim." There were no follow-ups. http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/028074.html The .capitalize() method is inconsistent between Unicode and regular strings, and the documentation is unclear about its definition. Does S.capitalize() return the string with its first character capitalized and no other changes, or with the rest of the string lowercase? Guido ruled that the latter interpretation is the intended one. http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2000-November/028130.html AMK submitted PEP 229, aiming to use the Distutils to build and install Python's standard library in place of the current Modules/Makefile.pre.in and makesetup mechanism. http://python.sourceforge.net/peps/pep-0229.html Related Links ============= Python-dev archives: http://www.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/ Python project page on SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/python Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs): http://python.sourceforge.net/peps/

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MoinMoin Release 0.6
by J�rgen Hermann Dec. 4, 2000

Dec. 4, 2000

A WikiWikiWeb is a collaborative hypertext environment, with an emphasis on easy access to and modification of information. MoinMoin is a Python WikiClone that allows you to easily set up your own wiki, only requiring a Web server and a Python installation. The major new feature of this release is the introduction of user preferences. This is currently used to display your name on the RecentChanges page (instead of your IP), and show all dates in your local time. Besides internal (code organization) changes, the two minor additions are a TableOfContents macro (much better navigation for longer pages), and improvements for numbered lists. Homepage: http://moin.sourceforge.net/ Download: http://download.sourceforge.net/moin/ Mailing lists: http://lists.dragon-ware.com/mailman/listinfo/moin-users http://lists.dragon-ware.com/mailman/listinfo/moin-dev New features: * [[UserPreferences]] macro and associated functions * [[TableOfContents]] macro * Mechanism for external macros (user extensions) * Numbered list types and start offsets Bugfixes: * Search dialogs did not work on the FrontPage * Add newline to text if last line has none (better diffs)

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