Among the blogs I follow is that of Guido van Rossum, the creator of Python. Mostly they are interesting but his latest one (IronPython in Action and the Decline of Windows) is a large pile of wtf. Apparently programming windows apps is tedious and gui creation requires many lines of code. Even more surprising to me, web apps are far easier to create.
Wow, apparently he has never heard of delphi, visual studio or any of the other gui editors that have been about since at least the mid 80s. The last time I laid a gui out in code, other than for eductational purposes, would have been about 1986. I have no desire to do it again either.
Showing posts with label python. Show all posts
Showing posts with label python. Show all posts
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
And Now for Something Completely Different
One of the pragmatic programmer tenets is to learn a new programming language every year. I'm a bit behind on that, I haven't learn a new language since 2002 (I don't count objective C because I hate it and have only learnt the bare minimum necessary to get by). Unfortunately the need to earn a living has gotten in the way of random learning.
However I have now been programming in Delphi for 15 years. It's starting to get a bit boring and it's time to kick-start the brain again. While Delphi will be my main language for the near future, I am going to make the effort to learn something different.
The main things I am looking for in my language de jour are
Part of the reason for going with Python is the presence of the Python for Delphi components. These promise to let you use python as a scripting language inside delphi apps. These components are used in the PyScripter ide.
The easiest way I have found to get started is to use Portable Python. This will put Python and a few tools (inc. PyScripter) into a portable drive along with a few tools and useful modules such as Django. This is considerably easier for a python newbie than sourcing and installing the packages separately.
Some useful links to get started with:
Official website
Official python tutorial (v2.6)
Dive onto python online book (useful but a bit old)
Pycon US 2009 videos
Reddit python feed
However I have now been programming in Delphi for 15 years. It's starting to get a bit boring and it's time to kick-start the brain again. While Delphi will be my main language for the near future, I am going to make the effort to learn something different.
The main things I am looking for in my language de jour are
- Dynamically typed (I have done statically typed languages for decades)
- Popular (general rule of thumb, should be at least as popular as delphi)
- Object Orientated
- Cross platform
- Batteries included
Part of the reason for going with Python is the presence of the Python for Delphi components. These promise to let you use python as a scripting language inside delphi apps. These components are used in the PyScripter ide.
The easiest way I have found to get started is to use Portable Python. This will put Python and a few tools (inc. PyScripter) into a portable drive along with a few tools and useful modules such as Django. This is considerably easier for a python newbie than sourcing and installing the packages separately.
Some useful links to get started with:
Official website
Official python tutorial (v2.6)
Dive onto python online book (useful but a bit old)
Pycon US 2009 videos
Reddit python feed
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