Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Jan 18)

Tue Jan 17 19:34:10 EST 2006

QOTW: "*what* the value is is defined by the operations that the object 
supports (via its type).

*how* the value is represented inside the object is completely 
irrelevant; a Python implementation may use electric charges in small 
capacitors, piles of rocks, diapers,or an endless supply of small guys 
in odd costumes to encode the value inside an object.  Changes to the 
value may be carried out by CPU instructions, caterpillars, toddlers 
with gasmasks, or an endless supply of small guys in odd costumes. The 
only thing that's important is that you can, in your Python program, 
access an objects value via its type, and get other objects back when 
you do." - Fredrik Lundh

"I have never seen a case where a dictionary didn't improve the design." - Ivan
Van Laningham

    PyCon Early bird registration ends, FrOSCon 2006 issues
    a "Call for Papers" and OSCON 2006 (Python 14 Conference)
    issues a "Call for Proposals":
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python.announce/browse_frm/thread/3e139769821f7e6e
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python.announce/browse_frm/thread/a5704ce3f09c4f01
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python.announce/browse_frm/thread/8f520f85326bf7de

    With release 0.6, OSAF's Python based PIM Chandler includes
    an "experimentally usable" calendar, with support for
    recurring events, time-zones and the ability to share
    calendars with others: 
        http://chandler.osafoundation.org/

    Fynali asks "How to remove subset from a file efficiently?".
    Follow-ups, as has happened so often before, reduce his runtime
    from a few minutes to a few seconds:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/929fcdf0ff9731dc

    Tim Peters explains why you shouldn't expect much from atexit + threads:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/fe9e426650764ed9

    Scott David Daniels suggests use of decorators to handle unit
    tests that are known to fail:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/7ea0762494ef96ff

    Robin Becker requests "some smart/fast way to flatten a level one list"
    and receives a number of suggestions:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/383aab2c3467eb59

    A discussion of the draft for a new Python.org web site leads
    to a conclusion of general happiness with the new look:
        http://beta.python.org

    Brian Blais asks "how do 'real' python programmers work?" and
    receives a sample of development processes that Pythonistas use,
    focused on what kind of windows people have on their screen, but
    also including such important aspects as test driven development:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/82b4f2f90b9def56

    Michael Galvin receives a few suggestions on how to get both
    text and graphics to a printer from Python:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/bc0742534da994d2

    Duncan Booth and others explain how to make a dictionary
    aware of its own changes:
        http://groups.google.se/group/comp.lang.python/browse_frm/thread/eeca4df10529f7e0

========================================================================
Everything Python-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in
these pages:

    Python.org's Python Language Website is the traditional
    center of Pythonia
        http://www.python.org
    Notice especially the master FAQ
        http://www.python.org/doc/FAQ.html

    PythonWare complements the digest you're reading with the
    marvelous daily python url
         http://www.pythonware.com/daily  
    Mygale is a news-gathering webcrawler that specializes in (new)
    World-Wide Web articles related to Python.
         http://www.awaretek.com/nowak/mygale.html 
    While cosmetically similar, Mygale and the Daily Python-URL
    are utterly different in their technologies and generally in
    their results.

    For far, FAR more Python reading than any one mind should
    absorb, much of it quite interesting, several pages index
    much of the universe of Pybloggers.
	http://lowlife.jp/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/PythonProgrammersWeblog
        http://www.planetpython.org/
        http://mechanicalcat.net/pyblagg.html

    comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software.  Be
    sure to scan this newsgroup weekly.
        http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python.announce

    Steve Bethard, Tim Lesher, and Tony Meyer continue the marvelous
    tradition early borne by Andrew Kuchling, Michael Hudson and Brett
    Cannon of intelligently summarizing action on the python-dev mailing
    list once every other week.
	http://www.python.org/dev/summary/

    The Python Package Index catalogues packages.
        http://www.python.org/pypi/

    The somewhat older Vaults of Parnassus ambitiously collects references
    to all sorts of Python resources.
        http://www.vex.net/~x/parnassus/   

    Much of Python's real work takes place on Special-Interest Group
    mailing lists
        http://www.python.org/sigs/

    Python Success Stories--from air-traffic control to on-line
    match-making--can inspire you or decision-makers to whom you're
    subject with a vision of what the language makes practical.
        http://www.pythonology.com/success

    The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has replaced the Python
    Consortium as an independent nexus of activity.  It has official
    responsibility for Python's development and maintenance. 
        http://www.python.org/psf/
    Among the ways you can support PSF is with a donation.
        http://www.python.org/psf/donate.html

    Kurt B. Kaiser publishes a weekly report on faults and patches.
        http://www.google.com/groups?as_usubject=weekly%20python%20patch

    Cetus collects Python hyperlinks.
        http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html

    Python FAQTS
        http://python.faqts.com/

    The Cookbook is a collaborative effort to capture useful and
    interesting recipes.
	http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python

    Among several Python-oriented RSS/RDF feeds available are
	http://www.python.org/channews.rdf
	http://bootleg-rss.g-blog.net/pythonware_com_daily.pcgi
	http://python.de/backend.php
    For more, see
	http://www.syndic8.com/feedlist.php?ShowMatch=python&ShowStatus=all
    The old Python "To-Do List" now lives principally in a
    SourceForge reincarnation.
        http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=355470&group_id=5470&func=browse
        http://python.sourceforge.net/peps/pep-0042.html

    The online Python Journal is posted at pythonjournal.cognizor.com.
    editor at pythonjournal.com and editor at pythonjournal.cognizor.com
    welcome submission of material that helps people's understanding
    of Python use, and offer Web presentation of your work.

    del.icio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary.
    It already aggregates quite a bit of Python intelligence.
        http://del.icio.us/tag/python

    *Py: the Journal of the Python Language*
        http://www.pyzine.com

    Archive probing tricks of the trade:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python&num=100
        http://groups.google.com/groups?meta=site%3Dgroups%26group%3Dcomp.lang.python.*

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