This FAQ newsgroup posting has been automatically converted from an HTML snapshot of the original Python FAQ; please refer to the original "Python FAQ Wizard" at <http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/cgi-bin/faqw.py> if source code snippets given in this document do not work - incidentally some formatting information may have been lost during the conversion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The whole Python FAQ - Section 2 Last changed on Mon Jun 28 19:36:09 1999 EDT (Entries marked with ** were changed within the last 24 hours; entries marked with * were changed within the last 7 days.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Python in the real world 2.1. How many people are using Python? 2.2. Have any significant projects been done in Python? 2.3. Are there any commercial projects going on using Python? 2.4. How stable is Python? 2.5. What new developments are expected for Python in the future? 2.6. Is it reasonable to propose incompatible changes to Python? 2.7. What is the future of Python? 2.8. What is the PSA, anyway? 2.9. How do I join the PSA? 2.10. What are the benefits of joining the PSA? 2.11. Is Python Y2K (Year 2000) Compliant? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Python in the real world ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1. How many people are using Python? I don't know, but the maximum number of simultaneous subscriptions to the Python mailing list before it was gatewayed into the newsgroup was about 180 (several of which were local redistribution lists). I believe that many active Python users don't bother to subscribe to the list, and now that there's a newsgroup the mailing list subscription is even less meaningful. I see new names on the newsgroup all the time and my best guess is that there are currently at least several thousands of users. Another statistic is the number of accesses to the Python WWW server. Have a look at http://www.python.org/stats/. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2. Have any significant projects been done in Python? At CWI (the former home of Python), we have written a 20,000 line authoring environment for transportable hypermedia presentations, a 5,000 line multimedia teleconferencing tool, as well as many many smaller programs. At CNRI (Python's new home), we have written two large applications: Grail, a fully featured web browser (see http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us), and the Knowbot Operating Environment, a distributed environment for mobile code. The University of Virginia uses Python to control a virtual reality engine. See http://alice.cs.cmu.edu. The ILU project at Xerox PARC can generate Python glue for ILU interfaces. See ftp://ftp.parc.xerox.com/pub/ilu/ilu.html. ILU is a free CORBA compliant ORB which supplies distributed object connectivity to a host of platforms using a host of languages. Mark Hammond and Greg Stein and others are interfacing Python to Microsoft's COM and ActiveX architectures. This means, among other things, that Python may be used in active server pages or as a COM controller (for example to automatically extract from or insert information into Excel or MSAccess or any other COM aware application). Mark claims Python can even be a ActiveX scripting host (which means you could embed JScript inside a Python application, if you had a strange sense of humor). Python/AX/COM is distributed as part of the PythonWin distribution. The University of California, Irvine uses a student administration system called TELE-Vision written entirely in Python. Contact: Ray Price rlprice@uci.edu. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia (a 100,000+ person venue) has it's scoreboard system written largely in Python on MS Windows. Python expressions are used to create almost every scoring entry that appears on the board. The move to Python/C++ away from exclusive C++ has provided a level of functionality that would simply not have been viable otherwise. See also the next question. If you have done a significant project in Python that you'd like to be included in the list above, send me email! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3. Are there any commercial projects going on using Python? Yes, there's lots of commercial activity using Python. See http://www.python.org/psa/Users.html for a list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4. How stable is Python? Very stable. While the current version number would suggest it is in the early stages of development, in fact new, stable releases (numbered 0.9.x through 1.4) have been coming out roughly every 3 to 6 or 12 months for the past four years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.5. What new developments are expected for Python in the future? Follow the newsgroup discussions! The workshop proceedings (http://www.python.org/workshops/) may also contain interesting looks into the future. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.6. Is it reasonable to propose incompatible changes to Python? In general, no. There are already millions of lines of Python code around the world, so any changes in the language that invalidates more than a very small fraction of existing programs has to be frowned upon. Even if you can provide a conversion program, there still is the problem of updating all documentation. Providing a gradual upgrade path is the only way if a feature has to be changed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.7. What is the future of Python? If I knew, I'd be rich :-) Seriously, the formation of the PSA (Python Software Activity, see http://www.python.org/psa/) ensures some kind of support even in the (unlikely!) event that I'd be hit by a bus (actually, here in the U.S., a car accident would be more likely :-), were to join a nunnery, or would be head-hunted. A large number of Python users have become experts at Python programming as well as maintenance of the implementation, and would easily fill the vacuum created by my disappearance. In the meantime, I have no plans to disappear -- rather, I am committed to improving Python, and my current benefactor, CNRI (see http://www.cnri.reston.va.us) is just as committed to continue its support of Python and the PSA. In fact, we have great plans for Python -- we just can't tell yet! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.8. What is the PSA, anyway? The Python Software Activity http://www.python.org/psa/ was created by a number of Python aficionados who want Python to be more than the product and responsibility of a single individual. It has found a home at CNRI http://www.cnri.reston.va.us. Anybody who wishes Python well should join the PSA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.9. How do I join the PSA? The full scoop is available on the web, see http://www.python.org/psa/regtempl.html. Summary: send a check of at least $50 to CNRI/PSA, 1895 Preston White Drive, Suite 100, in Reston, VA 20191. Full-time students pay $25. Prices drop by half the second half of the fiscal year (April - September). Companies can join for a mere $500. Pets may join for only $15! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.10. What are the benefits of joining the PSA? Like National Public Radio, without your support, Python will wither. If you join, your name will be mentioned on the PSA's web server. Workshops organized by the PSA http://www.python.org/workshops/ are only accessible to PSA members (you can join at the door). The PSA is working on additional benefits, such as reduced prices for books and software, and early access to alpha versions of Python. (The latter has been realized -- the 1.5 alpha testing program is accessible only to PSA members.) You might also consider to become a member of the starship project. It is a free group of Python enthusiasts, and you get a free account. They just happen to admit only PSA members. Check out http://starship.python.net for further information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.11. Is Python Y2K (Year 2000) Compliant? Since Python is available free of charge, I don't want to make any absolute guarantees. If there is a problem that I didn't foresee, I don't want to be sued for damages. That said, I'm pretty convinced that there are no Y2K problems anywhere in the core distribution, either 1.5 or 1.4. Python does few date manipulations, and what it does is all based on the Unix representation for time (even on non-Unix systems) which uses seconds since 1970 and won't overflow until 2038. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- ----------- comp.lang.python.announce (moderated) ---------- Article Submission Address: python-announce@python.org Python Language Home Page: http://www.python.org/ Python Quick Help Index: http://www.python.org/Help.html ------------------------------------------------------------