[Pythonmac-SIG] New Page, first proposal

[Dethe Elza]

On 8-Feb-06, at 10:35 AM, Chris Porter wrote:

> How does a build differ from a system?

I think build refers to a version of Python, and system refers to a  
version of OS X.

> I tried typing in python, and got the same response as typing in  
> pythonw.
> Then I tried "pythonx" "pythona" and "pythong", all of which got me
> something like this:

pythonw is a special invocation of python that allows you to talk to  
the window manager (the "w" is for "windows").  Regular python at the  
command-line isn't allowed to open windows due to some weirdness with  
how Apple created the window manager.

> -bash: pythona: command not found
>
> Be nice to know why only some letters after 'python' are allowed.

Adding random letters to the end of commands doesn't work.

>>> 4)  To do this in a window, enter the following lines at the ">>>"
>>> prompt:
>
>
> What? What window? Any window? Is window some particular
> application?

This refers to putting "Hello World" in a window (actually a blank  
window with "Hello World" in the title bar.  The window is the one  
you create with the following lines.

>>>>>> import wx app = wx.PySimpleApp() frame = wx.Frame(None, -1,
>>>>>> "Hello World").Show(1) app.MainLoop()
>
>
> Tried this in a Terminal (window), this is what I got:
>
>>>> import wx app = wx.PySimpleApp() frame = wx.Frame(None,  
>>>> -1,"Hello World").Show(1) app.MainLoop()

The newlines or semicolons must have gotten obliterated.  Either of  
these work for me:

import wx
app = wx.PySimpleApp()
frame = wx.Frame(None, -1, "Hello World").Show(1)
app.MainLoop()

# or

import wx; app=wx.PySimpleApp(); frame = wx.Frame(None, -1, "Hello  
World").Show(1); app.MainLoop()

> "For users of this page, we are going to assume you know:
> That python is a programming language.
> That window means...
> That you are generally familiar with the Terminal app
> That you know how to construct a program and save it to disk, and  
> run it.
> That ...."

Hmmm.  If they don't know that Python is a programming language, why  
are they here?  Familiarity with the terminal app and knowing how to  
save python as a text file are certainly prerequisites at this point  
though.

--Dethe

"Say what you like about C++, but it's uninitialized variables will  
always
hold a special place in my heart. In a world where we define  
*everything*
concretely it is the last refuge of the undefined. It's the programmer's
Wild West, the untamed frontier." --Bjorn Stroustrap