Does Python seem appropriate for me?

[Glen Pepicelli]

Python should be great for testing out data structures.  It will not
take you long to learn the langauge which should help a lot.  Also
Python code is super easy to read, you should be able to show other your
code and with a few comments they should be able to follow it.  

If you do choose python make sure you check out regular expressions!! 
Their are RE librarys for almost all langauges so any work you do with
the REs should be fairly reuseable.  

Good luck on your development!


Rick Olson wrote:
> 
> Hi--
> 
> I'm doing some research developing some algorithms for solving scheduling
> problems.  In the past, I have done most of my work using MS C/C++ v. 7 or
> the Watcom compiler on a PC because I could run the result in a DOS
> environment making it easy to write big batch files and run comparisons to
> other code on a system with little system overheard.  I am now getting ready
> to start a new project.  WIN2k has eliminated DOS from my list of options,
> so I thought I'd take the plunge into Linux.
> 
> The work has essentially three parts:
> a) Conceptual developing/coding algorithm
> b) Tuning algorithms to get good performance
> c) Running comparisons against algorithms developed by other people.
> 
> Step b) would be best done with a GUI.  Speed isn't as important as it will
> be in step c.  There are many parameter settings to try and it would be nice
> to have a "control panel" that I can use to enter parameters and see results
> keep track of things.
> 
> Step c) is best done at the command line level.  I will run each instance of
> an algorithm by itself with as few system processes as possible running.
> Consequently, I would like the program to be self-contained with input from
> a command line and no GUI interface.  Output will consist of one or two
> numbers.
> 
> From what I've picked up in other ngs it sounds like Python with Tkinter may
> be the answer.  It sounds like I can write a GUI interface that can extract
> the information from the screen.  This info can be the command line prompts
> to a call execute the program.
> 
> Q1> Can I (relatively easily) also use the output from the program to change
> display?  This would allow an interactive test bed.
> 
> Q2> Does it seem like Python+Tkinter is an appropriate approach?  I don't
> want to need to become highly skilled in either to do the job.  If I can
> piece the interface together in a week or two I'd be content.
> 
> Q3> Assuming Python makes sense, what books would you recommend.  Again, I
> don't need to acquire deep understanding.  I like the "learn by stealing
> examples" approach, but have been burned too many times by buggy examples.
> Should I pick up a Tk/Tcl book or two, also?
> 
> Q4> I like GUI programming environments.  I'm not thrilled with using gdb to
> debug.  Is there an X-Windows or KDE programming environment I should
> pursue?  (Or is there something I've been missing about gdb)  What
> references would you recommend?  It seems like lots of books have single
> chapters on these topics, but I'd rather have a dedicated source.
> 
> Q5> I'm inclined to go with the Red Hat Distribution.  Is there any reason I
> shouldn't?  Do I need a Linux book or are the docs on the Red Hat and Linux
> pages adequate?
> 
> Thanks in advance-
> 
> Rick Olson
> Industrial and Systems Engineering
> University of San Diego