Why Python?

[Paul McGuire]

"Rainer Deyke" <rainerd at eldwood.com> wrote in message
news:l6C0c.8261$ko6.195399 at attbi_s02...
> Ed Murphy wrote:
> > On Mon, 01 Mar 2004 05:12:48 +0000, Rainer Deyke wrote:
> >> 2. Python programs are somewhat difficult to distribute compared to
> >> programs in languages that compile to native code.
> >
> > How do you figure this one?  Something to do with statically linked
> > libraries?  (I'm a Python newbie, but have been programming in general
> > for almost 20 years, about half of that professionally.)
>
> Basically you have to distribute the Python interpreter along with your
> program, since you generally can't rely on the end user having (the
correct
> version of) Python installed.
>
Utilities such as py2exe and McMillan Installer make this problem much
simpler.  Real-world example:  I needed to provide a customer with a *very*
simple HTTP server for centrally serving up a global configuration file.  My
prototype was 2 lines of Python code (actual finished version was about 50
lines, including some signal handling), used McInstaller to create a
free-standing distributable .EXE file (that fit on a 3-1/2" floppy!).  Very
portable, does not require Python to be installed on the target platform.

-- Paul