[Pythonmac-SIG] Mac User Python newbies

[Bob Ippolito]

On Feb 8, 2005, at 5:46 PM, Troy Rollins wrote:

> I'm a developer who primarily works with higher level languages, and
> integrated tools. Director, REALbasic, Revolution. I've done plenty of
> advanced scripting with those tools, and am trying to move into Python
> for the open-source benefits, among other things. I've just ordered
> several books which should help me with the scripting hurdles, and the
> methodologies... but no matter how many web sites I scan, and how many
> downloads I've done, I can't quite see how to build and maintain a
> cohesive toolset. There are thousands of individual parts and pieces,
> lots of semi-working IDEs and debuggers...

Welcome to free software?

> I've looked through some of the archives for this list, but I've yet
> to find anything written for Mac users that is aimed at -
> Getting you, the Mac user who is familiar with scripting, up and 
> running with -
> 1) Python
> 2) An IDE and debugger (Xcode?)
> 3) A GUI toolkit (wxWidgets?)

I'd highly recommend PyObjC if cross-platform isn't an immediate goal.  
Other than that, wxPython seems to be the default, but you'll probably 
have to fight with it to do what you want.

>> From my end, I think I have evrything running, but I don't know if I
> want to tackle this without the "security" of an environment which
> includes code colorization (if not completion), a debugger, and
> ideally a interactive interpreter tied in for command line testing.
> I've taken a look at several of them, but they all seem to have
> stability issues. Can Xcode behave like what a Python developer would
> like, with the above mentioned features? Is it easy to set up? If so,
> that would seem to be the way to go. Is there a better option?

No, Xcode can not provide you with any more than syntax highlighting.  
Debugging is not an option beyond interacting with pdb on a console 
(same as you would from Terminal).  It's possible to write such a 
feature, but there is no public API for doing so, so nobody is likely 
to do it.

PyOXIDE is out there, Mac OS X native, and open source, but it might be 
immature (I don't have real experience with it, so I can't say).  All 
the rest are either ancient and featureless (the MacPython IDE), or 
based on cross-platform toolkits and aren't very Mac-like.  I have 
heard good things about Wing, which is a commercial IDE for Python, but 
only runs under X11 for Mac OS X.

> I apologize for the newbiness of the post, but Python is a natural
> location for a lot of different types of people to migrate to, and
> I've noted a running theme about that in some recent posts here. For
> those of us with limited command line experience, and no C++ or
> low-level programming experience, it is a bit bewildering. There is
> almost too much info available, and none of it is aimed at getting you
> set up with a development toolset which can really get you off the
> ground, and behaves anything like an integrated experience. To move
> from a commercial IDE with many bells and whistles (like Director)
> into a black and white text editor would seem a bit harsh.

Most text editors worth using have syntax coloring, SubEthaEdit, 
BBEdit, Xcode, etc.    Even the ones you would use from a terminal 
(Emacs, Vim) are going to have syntax highlighting.

-bob