[IPython-dev] Re: Leo, IPython and the summer of code

[Robert Kern]

Edward K. Ream wrote:

> More importantly, Leo, right now, implements everything envisioned in 
> the project description:
> 
> - Leo works well with IPython. See below for details.

It does not interact with IPython in the way we need. The proposal is a 
bit unclear as to the precise goal of this project. It gives undue 
emphasis on the file format which gives readers the impression that it 
is proposing a new literate programming tool. If that were the case, 
then Leo would satisfy the proposal just fine.

However, we are not looking for a literate programming tool. We are 
looking for a GUI Read-Eval-Print Loop that is embedded in a rich text 
document. The way that Leo interacts with IPython is to run the REPL in 
a console divorced from the document. This is not what we want. To see a 
static example of what we want, please look at this rendered example 
from my current codebase:

http://starship.python.net/~kernr/tut-2.3.5-html.html

That is essentially the format that we want to be editing within the 
GUI. There are two important points here:

   1. We want the shell as part of the GUI.
   2. We don't want the user to have to do any markup unless he is doing 
something special.

I do not believe that using Leo as a base for this project is justified 
at this time. Further development to interface with Leo is an option and 
something to explore later. At this time, I feel that focusing on our 
core requirements and developing outside of a framework (Leo, or any 
others like Envisage, Eclipse, Blackadder, and the like) will serve us 
best in the end.

-- 
Robert Kern
rkern at ucsd.edu

"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
  Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
   -- Richard Harter