[Pythonmac-SIG] Is Python right for what I want to do?

Rodney Somerstein rodneys at io.com
Sun Aug 15 18:46:23 CEST 2004


First of all, let me state that I have been watching Python on and 
off over the last several years and until just recently, it hasn't 
seemed quite the tool that I wanted to use, even though the language 
itself seems great. Now, it seems the time may have finally come for 
me to leap in and start using Python. These questions are not 
necessarily Mac specific, though in the past there seemed to be more 
related limitations on the Mac.

I have a project that I want to work on which will eventually be open 
source. I think that Python and wxPython will allow me to do 
everything that I need capability-wise. Where my questions come in is 
really more related to packaging and delivery. In the past, I have 
avoided Python, especially on the Mac, as the installation 
requirements for an end-user application have seemed overly complex. 
It seems that I might now be able to produce a double-clickable 
application with a simple installer that could be used cross-platform.

Is this actually easy to do? Does the user have to install Python 
separately, or is it part of an application created with 
bundlebuilder? (I know it is pre-installed on Mac OSX, but this is an 
issue for other platforms). Can bundlebuilder include other needed 
libraries, such as wxPython in an application?

Next comes the question of support for new versions of Python. I note 
that at the moment, Mac OSX is stuck with version 2.3 of Python 
without extraordinary efforts (from an end-user standpoint) to 
install updates. When 2.4 comes out, would I be able to use this in 
an application and have end-users install such an update as part of 
an application install? Or will they have to manually install the 
MacPython update? Obviously I want to avoid this last as eventually 
when Apple upgrades to 2.4.x I don't want my application to cause 
problems for users. What are the current plans for Python 2.4 support 
on the Mac? Will it make it into Tiger? Has an update mechanism been 
found that will eliminate conflicts with Apple's built-in Python if 
not? (I found mention of such an effort in the archives, but no 
details)

Is there anything else I would want to be aware of?

These kinds of things are really the only thing that has kept me from 
using Python. I am a hobbyist and want my efforts to be easily 
available to other users. I want to produce applications with a nice 
user interface, not command-line tools. I don't want users to have to 
do complex installs to get the things I write running.

So, back to the title of my message, is Python right for what I want 
to do? Or is it still not quite there?

Thanks,

-Rodney
-- 
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Rodney Somerstein
rodneys at io.com


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