[Tutor] active state or py.org (fwd)

[Jeff Shannon]

> Danny Yoo <dyoo@hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu> wrote:

>
> > Keith <kjphotog@juno.com> wrote:
>
> > You recommend window users to download Python from their org -OR- is
> > it better to download the windows version from Active State?
> > Appreciate your tutorial link, I'll check it out.
>
> Either distribution is ok.  If you're planning to do Windows specific
> stuff, the ActiveState version seems nicer because it's bundled with some
> Windows-specific modules as well as a text editor called PythonWin.
>
> I have to say, though, that I'm not the best person to ask about this: I
> run Debian Linux on my home system, so I haven't really had too much
> experience with the Windows stuff.  Sorry!

If you're intending to run Python mostly on Windows (as I do), then I highly recommend getting
the ActiveState distribution.  It includes a number of Windows-specific extensions, as Danny
noted, and I personally find the PythonWin IDE to be easier and more powerful than IDLE (though
of course YMMV).  You can also get these extensions (and PythonWin) for the Pythonlabs
(python.org) distribution (as the win32all package), but it's simpler and cleaner to use
ActiveState's.

The Windows extensions include a COM framework, which lets you interact with a *huge* number of
Windows applications (including controlling MS Office and interacting with the Windows Scripting
Host), an NT Services framework (allowing you to create "always-on" background processes), and
access to the Windows GUI through MFC (though in this case, I'd recommend using wxPython
instead--a simpler-to-use, cross-platform GUI library).

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International