Beginner's questions

[Paul Winkler]

Lad wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> I am a Perl programmer but I miss some things in Perl. For this
> reason I am looking for another, better (if any) programming
> language. Maybe Python would be my choice. Can you please
> answer the following?
> 1.How well threads are implemented in Python particularly under
> windows?

Don't know, sorry.

> 2.Are there any libraries for working with HTTP protocols that is
> modules that could help download( grab) web pages with GET
> methods and modules for using  also POST method without
> necessity to program these applications with sockets?
> 3.Are there any libraries for SMTP, POP3 and NNTP protocols?

All of that is in the standard python distribution. See section 11 of the
library reference.

> 4. Is there a program for making executable files from python
> programs?

freeze.py in the Tools directory of the python distribution.
I have not used it. The resulting executables are usually not small.

> 5. What modules , except Tk, can I use for GUI programming with
> Python?

gtk, qt, wxWindows, FLTK, FOX, more... 

> 6. Is it possible, in Python, send output from a program to a web
> browser directly or in other words display html file in python
> application?

Sorry, I don't understand. You want to start a browser and have it show the
contents of an html file? That would depend on the platform and browser, but on
unix I'd do something like this:

import os
os.system("netscape %s" % my_file_name)

> 7. Where can I find a available modules list?

You should've asked this question first. :)

The Standard Library Reference:
http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/lib.html

For stuff that doesn't come with the distribution, search the Vaults of
Parnassus:
http://www.vex.net/parnassus/

> 8. What are best tutorials/books on Python?

I like O'Reilly's "Learning Python". I too came here from perl and found it a
great introduction from that perspective.

> 9. Can you give me  examples of large Python application?

Zope is probably the best-known large Python app.
http://www.zope.org

> 10. Why do YOU use Python?

It's easy to understand the code (mine and others'). And it's fun!
Also, the interactive prompt is the best calculator I've ever had. :)

> 11. Is it possible to to "talk" to java applets via Python?

Sorry, I don't know about this. But there is a Java implementation of python
called Jython that may be what you need.

-- 
...................    paul winkler   ....................
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