python app development

[Terry Reedy]

On 7/3/2010 1:48 PM, mo reina wrote:
> an anyone recommend a resource (book,tutorial,etc.) that focuses on
> application development in python? something similar to Practical
> Django Projects, but for stand alone applications instead of web apps
> (for now).
>
> i'm in a bit of a funny place, i have a decent/good grasp of python
> syntax and my logic isn't bad, but i have no clue on how to assemble
> an application, i seem to be stuck on writing scripts.
>
> i've looked at the source of a few projects but the flow is way over
> my head, i understand the syntax but not the logic, which is why i'm
> looking for a project-cenetered learning resource, instead of a
> reference or language-feature resource. also, it seems that a lot of
> app programming is 90% gui bindings, with very little actual code, or
> am i totally way off mark?

If the app is a gui app and if logic is overly intermixed with gui 
stuff, I am sure it can seem like that. Many recommend the MVC 
model-view-controller model for app design. Even that can be confusing; 
to me it should be model-controller-view, even though that is harder to 
say. What are the data (values and objects) and how are they stored? 
What are the rules for manipulating the data and objects? And then, and 
only then, how to communicate with the user?
>
> i recently picked up the django practical projects book, and in a few
> days i re-wrote a website i did with django. i feel it was the book's
> project-centric approach that made this possible.

Another issue is who controls the flow of interactions, the user or the 
code. For instance, a gui form used for input tends to direct the user 
along a linear path. The same form, used for edit, presents existing 
data and allows the user to pick and choose the fields to edit. This 
distinction, along with MVC ideas, is important for reading source code.

I have mostly seen this issue discussed in game reviews and game design 
writing. In computer games, there is the same general difference between 
a linear obstacle course game and a world to be explored in whatever 
order one wants. (And there are some with both an explorable world *and* 
a (somewhat optional) linear main quest line.)

I am not familiar with any general app design books, but I have seen 
game design articles and books that are on a par with writing about web 
design. There are other books on business apps.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy