Mailman 3 September 2008 - Python-announce-list

MichiPUG October meeting: Python 2.6
by Kevin Dangoor Sept. 30, 2008

Sept. 30, 2008

Our regularly scheduled MichiPUG meeting is coming on Thursday, October 2nd. The meeting will be at its usual time (7 PM) and at the usual place (SRT Solutions [1]). This month meeting topic is Python 2.6. A few months ago, we discussed Python 3.0 and all the new features that had to offer. It seems to make more sense to focus on Python 2.6, because it's a release that we can likely use sometime soon. Coincidentally, Python 2.6 final is due out tomorrow [2]. So check out what's new in Python 2.6 [3] and come to the meeting with your choices of favorite new features. [1]: http://groups.google.com/group/michipug/web/SRT%20Solutions [2]: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0361/ [3]: http://docs.python.org/dev/whatsnew/2.6.html -- Kevin Dangoor Product Manager SitePen, Inc. Web development experts: development, support, training kevin(a)sitepen.com http://www.sitepen.com 650.968.8787 (Timezone: US/Eastern)

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OSDC 2008 Earlybird Registration is now open!
by Mark Rees Sept. 30, 2008

Sept. 30, 2008

Earlybird Registration for The Open Source Developers' Conference 2008 is now open. OSDC 2008 is a conference run by open source developers, for developers and business people. It covers numerous programming languages across a range of operating systems, and related topics such as business processes, licensing, and strategy. Talks vary from introductory pieces through to the deeply technical. This year we have an exciting selection of presenters and keynote speakers including: * Larry Wall, the creator of Perl * Chris DiBona, Open Source Progams Manager for Google * Andrew Tridgell, Founder, Samba Team * Anthony Baxter, Python Evangelist * Pia Waugh, Consultant, Waugh Partners Check out the draft program: http://www.osdc.com.au/2008/papers/ Please visit http://www.osdc.com.au/2008/registration/ to register. Earlybird registration closes 27th October, 2008. For more information about this event, please visit: http://www.osdc.com.au/. Regards OSDC 2008 Organising Committee

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Shed Skin (restricted) Python-to-C++ compiler 0.0.29
by Mark Dufour Sept. 30, 2008

Sept. 30, 2008

Hi all, I have just released Shed Skin 0.0.29, with the following changes. Thanks to those mentioned for helping out! - datetime implementation (Karel Heyse, Pavel Vinogradov, FFAO, David Marek) - ConfigParser implementation (suggested by Albert Hofkamp) - staticmethod and property decorator support (Seo Sanghyeon) - GCC 4.3 fixes (Seo Sanghyeon, Winterknight) - FreeBSD, OpenSolaris and 64-bit support - support for mapping keys('%(key)x' % some_dict) - improvements to the import mechanism for nested modules (e.g. os.path) - __init__ is now less of a special case - many fixes for calling ancestor methods (e.g. __init__) - all example programs now compile to extension modules - avoid stack overflows for highly recursive/dynamic types - re.sub now accepts a replacement function - remove tuple hash caching (as CPython does not do this) - many, many bugfixes This has been a significant release, with many important improvements. Please see my latest blog entry with more details: http://shed-skin.blogspot.com/ I would really like to receive more bug reports. Please try out the new release, and file issues at the project homepage: http://shedskin.googlecode.com More coding help is also always welcome. One important feature I'd really like to have for a 0.1 release is custom class support in extension modules.. Thanks! Mark. -- "One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code" - Ken Thompson

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Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Sep 30)
by Gabriel Genellina Sept. 30, 2008

Sept. 30, 2008

QOTW: "AFAICT, _everybody_ is bad at programming C++. One begins to suspect it's not the fault of the programmers." - Grant Edwards Mixing integer, float, Decimal and Fraction objects when comparing may yield unexpected results: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/eebc7e… Usually class attributes don't have a docstring attached - how to define one? http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/18a8c3… How do people manage their development and production environments (apt, .deb/.rpm, virtualenv, eggs...)? http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/5d14be… A real counterexample to the "Python is slow" usual claim (C++ and Python versions of the same CPU intensive task have similar performance): http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/a63979… Implementing (some kind of) "proxy" object to multiple delegates (step by step, and with changing requirements!) http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/a917e1… Should a library terminate program execution when it encounters an error? http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/f01d51… An attempt to explain how closures and dynamic scope work: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/browse_thread/thread/c64634… ======================================================================== Everything Python-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in these pages: Python.org's Python Language Website is the traditional center of Pythonia http://www.python.org Notice especially the master FAQ http://www.python.org/doc/FAQ.html PythonWare complements the digest you're reading with the marvelous daily python url http://www.pythonware.com/daily Just beginning with Python? This page is a great place to start: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers The Python Papers aims to publish "the efforts of Python enthusiats": http://pythonpapers.org/ The Python Magazine is a technical monthly devoted to Python: http://pythonmagazine.com Readers have recommended the "Planet" sites: http://planetpython.org http://planet.python.org comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software. Be sure to scan this newsgroup weekly. http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python.announce/topics Python411 indexes "podcasts ... to help people learn Python ..." Updates appear more-than-weekly: http://www.awaretek.com/python/index.html The Python Package Index catalogues packages. http://www.python.org/pypi/ The somewhat older Vaults of Parnassus ambitiously collects references to all sorts of Python resources. http://www.vex.net/~x/parnassus/ Much of Python's real work takes place on Special-Interest Group mailing lists http://www.python.org/sigs/ Python Success Stories--from air-traffic control to on-line match-making--can inspire you or decision-makers to whom you're subject with a vision of what the language makes practical. http://www.pythonology.com/success The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has replaced the Python Consortium as an independent nexus of activity. It has official responsibility for Python's development and maintenance. http://www.python.org/psf/ Among the ways you can support PSF is with a donation. http://www.python.org/psf/donations/ The Summary of Python Tracker Issues is an automatically generated report summarizing new bugs, closed ones, and patch submissions. http://search.gmane.org/?author=status%40bugs.python.org&group=gmane.comp.p… Although unmaintained since 2002, the Cetus collection of Python hyperlinks retains a few gems. http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html Python FAQTS http://python.faqts.com/ The Cookbook is a collaborative effort to capture useful and interesting recipes. http://code.activestate.com/recipes/langs/python/ Many Python conferences around the world are in preparation. Watch this space for links to them. Among several Python-oriented RSS/RDF feeds available, see: http://www.python.org/channews.rdf For more, see: http://www.syndic8.com/feedlist.php?ShowMatch=python&ShowStatus=all The old Python "To-Do List" now lives principally in a SourceForge reincarnation. http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=355470&group_id=5470&func=browse http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0042/ del.icio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary. It already aggregates quite a bit of Python intelligence. http://del.icio.us/tag/python *Py: the Journal of the Python Language* http://www.pyzine.com Dr.Dobb's Portal is another source of Python news and articles: http://www.ddj.com/TechSearch/searchResults.jhtml?queryText=python and Python articles regularly appear at IBM DeveloperWorks: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/search/searchResults.jsp?searchSite=dW&se… Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are listed here: http://search.gmane.org/?query=python+URL+weekly+news+links&group=gmane.com… http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=Python-URL!+group%3Acomp.lang.pyth… http://lwn.net/Search/DoSearch?words=python-url&ctype3=yes&cat_25=yes There is *not* an RSS for "Python-URL!"--at least not yet. Arguments for and against are occasionally entertained. Suggestions/corrections for next week's posting are always welcome. E-mail to <Python-URL(a)phaseit.net> should get through. To receive a new issue of this posting in e-mail each Monday morning (approximately), ask <claird(a)phaseit.net> to subscribe. Mention "Python-URL!". Write to the same address to unsubscribe. -- The Python-URL! Team-- Phaseit, Inc. (http://phaseit.net) is pleased to participate in and sponsor the "Python-URL!" project. Watch this space for upcoming news about posting archives.

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ANN: wxPython 2.8.9.1
by Robin Dunn Sept. 30, 2008

Sept. 30, 2008

Announcing ---------- The 2.8.9.1 release of wxPython is now available for download at http://wxpython.org/download.php. This release adds a quick fix for a compatibility problem with Python 2.4. Source code is available, as well as binaries for Python 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5, for Windows and Mac, as well some packages for various Linux distributions. A summary of changes is listed below and also at http://wxpython.org/recentchanges.php. What is wxPython? ----------------- wxPython is a GUI toolkit for the Python programming language. It allows Python programmers to create programs with a robust, highly functional graphical user interface, simply and easily. It is implemented as a Python extension module that wraps the GUI components of the popular wxWidgets cross platform library, which is written in C++. wxPython is a cross-platform toolkit. This means that the same program will usually run on multiple platforms without modifications. Currently supported platforms are 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows, most Linux or other Unix-like systems using GTK2, and Mac OS X 10.4+. In most cases the native widgets are used on each platform to provide a 100% native look and feel for the application. -- Robin Dunn Software Craftsman http://wxPython.org Java give you jitters? Relax with wxPython!

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Elisa Media Center 0.5.12 Release
by Florian Boucault Sept. 29, 2008

Sept. 29, 2008

Dear Elisa users, The Elisa team is happy to announce the release of Elisa Media Center 0.5.12, code-named "Hibo". This release fixes a handful of bugs and enhances the current user experience with the following new features: - the Flickr plugin has been improved in very important ways adding notably allowing the user to login and access his, her personal content, contact list and friends' photos - an animated buffering bar was introduced in the player user interface giving better feedback and a slicked look and feel - a more appropriate, nicer looking volume bar is now part of the player user interface - plugins can now be branded in the user interface to provide the user with a more immersive experience; only the Flickr plugin has been updated so far Unfortunately YouTube servers have changed the way they work and it is very likely, depending on the country you live in, that playing back videos from YouTube from within Elisa does not work anymore. Reference: https://bugs.launchpad.net/elisa/+bug/275976 A complete list of the new features and bugs fixed by this release is available at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/elisa/+milestone/0.5.12 Installers and sources can be downloaded from http://elisa.fluendo.com/download/ Bug reports and feature requests are welcome at https://bugs.launchpad.net/elisa/+filebug Have a nice evening, The Elisa team

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ANN: wxPython 2.8.9.0
by Robin Dunn Sept. 29, 2008

Sept. 29, 2008

Announcing ---------- The 2.8.9.0 release of wxPython is now available for download at http://wxpython.org/download.php. This release adds support for using Cairo for drawing on wx windows, adds a Win64 build, and various other fixes and enhancements. Source code is available, as well as binaries for Python 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5, for Windows and Mac, as well some packages for various Linux distributions. A summary of changes is listed below and also at http://wxpython.org/recentchanges.php. What is wxPython? ----------------- wxPython is a GUI toolkit for the Python programming language. It allows Python programmers to create programs with a robust, highly functional graphical user interface, simply and easily. It is implemented as a Python extension module that wraps the GUI components of the popular wxWidgets cross platform library, which is written in C++. wxPython is a cross-platform toolkit. This means that the same program will usually run on multiple platforms without modifications. Currently supported platforms are 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows, most Linux or other Unix-like systems using GTK2, and Mac OS X 10.4+. In most cases the native widgets are used on each platform to provide a 100% native look and feel for the application. Changes in 2.8.9.0 ------------------ Many minor bug fixes throughout wxWidgets and wxPython. Fixed wx.lib.embeddedimage to work with Python 2.3. Fixed PseudoDC hit testing when pure white or pure black are used. Added support for a 64-bit Windows build for the AMD64 architecture, (a.k.a. x64.) This is for Python 2.5 only and is available only as a Unicode build. Added the wx.EmptyBitmapRGBA factory function. Added the wx.lib.wxcairo module which allows the pycairo package to be used for drawing on wx window or memory DCs. In addition it is able to convert from a native wx.Font to a cairo.FontFace, and it also provides functions for converting to/from wx.Bitmap and cairo.ImageSurface objects. In order to use this module you will need to have the Cairo library and its dependencies installed, as well as the pycairo Python package. For Linux and other unix-like systems you most likely have what you need installed already, or can easily do so from your package manager application. See the wx.lib.wxcairo module's docstring for notes on where to get what you need for Windows or Mac. This module uses ctypes, and depending on platform it may need to find and load additional dynamic libraries at runtime in addition to cairo. The pycairo package used needs to be new enough to export the CAPI structure in the package namespace. I believe that started sometime in the 1.4.x release series. Added the wx.lib.graphics module, which is an implementation of the wx.GraphicsContext API using Cairo (via wx.lib.wxcairo). This allows us to be totally consistent across platforms, and also use Cairo to implement some things that are missing from the GraphicsContext API. It's not 100% compatible with the GraphicsContext API, but probably close enough to be able to share code between them if desired, plus it can do a few things more. Updated wx.Bitmap.CopyFromBuffer to be a bit more flexible. You can now specify the format of the buffer, and the CopyFromBufferRGBA is now just a wrapper around CopyFromBuffer that specifies a different format than the default. Also added the complement method, CopyToBuffer. See the docstring for CopyFromBuffer for details on the currently allowed buffer formats. The existing wx.BitmapFromBuffer factory functions are also now implemented using the same underlying code as CopyFromBuffer. Add wx.lib.mixins.listctrl.ListRowHighlighter for automatic highlighting of rows in a wx.ListCtrl. -- Robin Dunn Software Craftsman http://wxPython.org Java give you jitters? Relax with wxPython!

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[ANN] Release 0.70.4 of Task Coach
by Frank Niessink Sept. 28, 2008

Sept. 28, 2008

Hi, I'm happy to announce release 0.70.4 of Task Coach. This release fixes some bugs: Bugs fixed: * Allow Task Coach to be installed on Ubuntu 7.10. * Task Coach wasn't notifying users of new versions. * When merging, merge notes too. * When the notes feature is turned off, hide the 'Create new note' menu item in the category pop up menu. * Fixed a translation bug. * Hide/show the main window with one click on the task bar icon instead of a double click (Linux only). * The Task Coach main window would get a very small size if it was started minimized and had not been restored in the previous session. What is Task Coach? Task Coach is a simple task manager that allows for hierarchical tasks, i.e. tasks in tasks. Task Coach is open source (GPL) and is developed using Python and wxPython. You can download Task Coach from: http://www.taskcoach.org In addition to the source distribution, packaged distributions are available for Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux (Debian and RPM format). Note that Task Coach is alpha software, meaning that it is wise to back up your task file regularly, and especially when upgrading to a new release. Cheers, Frank

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A new book about Python
by Tarek Ziadé Sept. 28, 2008

Sept. 28, 2008

Hello I'm glad to announce a new book I wrote on Python: "Expert Python Programming" More details and a sample chapter here: http://tarekziade.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/expert-python-programming-book-m… Best Regards Tarek -- Tarek Ziadé | Association AfPy | www.afpy.org Blog FR | http://programmation-python.org Blog EN | http://tarekziade.wordpress.com/

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python-graph-1.3.0 released
by Pedro Matiello Sept. 28, 2008

Sept. 28, 2008

python-graph release 1.3.0 http://code.google.com/p/python-graph/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ python-graph is a library for working with graphs in Python. This software provides a suitable data structure for representing graphs and a whole set of important algorithms. The code is appropriately documented and API reference is generated automatically by epydoc. Provided features and algorithms: * Support for directed, undirected, weighted and non-weighted graphs * Support for hypergraphs * Canonical operations * XML import and export * DOT-Language output (for usage with Graphviz) * Random graph generation * Accessibility (transitive closure) * Breadth-first search * Cut-vertex and cut-edge identification * Depth-first search * Identification of connected components * Minimum spanning tree (Prim's algorithm) * Mutual-accessibility (strongly connected components) * Shortest path (Dijkstra's algorithm) Changes in this release: * Traversals * Faster node insertion * Some API changes Download: http://code.google.com/p/python-graph/downloads/list

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