Zope questions and comments (&Tkinter???)

[Gerrie Roos]

I'm no python/zope guru, but from my little experience i'd say do check out
zope further.  I started zope without any python knowledge even, so i
suppose that made it even a bit more tricky to get my head around
it...especially the part where you call zope methods with parameters from
zope tags...argh...but its getting better now.  so i'd say for someone with
some python background, go for it...if you know some basic html and forms,
you'll find it fairly easy to make some nice pages and do backend  stuff
with python.  even if you don't use all the zope features, its worth it
just for the management interface, security, etc...all kinds of stuff you
might not think you need now, but it would be easy to implement once you
know its there and you see all kinds of need for it.  i mean, what if your
little site wants to grow into something bigger?  do join the zope mailing
list...  zope at zope.org

Ron Stephens wrote:

> I am interested in Zope and I have  few questions. My interest is in
> running a  "simple" Zope based web server in order to have the ability
> to run server side Python scripts; I might eventually be interested in
> the object oriented database aspects of Zope, but it is not clear
> whether I would be able to devote enough time and energy to actually be
> able to do so. Someone recommended a Zope based hosting service named
> hurrah.com and it looks good to me at first glance. I downloaded Zope
> and fooled around a few weeks ago, it looked good but complex. My
> questions:
>
> 1. Will Zope be too complex for me??? Specifically, if my primary
> interest, in the short run, is to be able to run server side scripts
> written in Python (or at least in a  Python-like language) , will Zope
> allow me to do this? Or will writing scripts in Zope be so complex that
> it renders void my attraction for writing in Python because it is simple
> and intuitive, i. e. , rather easy and enjoyable?
>
> 2. I have already discovered that the gui type input/output functions of
> my scripts are the hardest part for me. I am only interested in simple
> input and output by end users, but I want it to look good and be user
> friendly. I do not need fancy graphics nor multimedia, just well
> designed attractive forms and user input followed by outputed results in
> verbal and numerical form. Will this kind of input/output be a big
> problem using Zope? I almost don't dare ask, but I assume Tkinter will
> not be supported by Zope? Will I really need to resort to other means,
> such as JavaScript, to do such things ??? How straight forward is input
> and output, in event driven programs, in server side scripting using
> Zope???
>
> 3. Would I be better served by using CGI, once I find a host that allows
> me to do so? If CGI scripts written in Python are just as easy and
> flexible as using Zope, maybe that's the way for me to go in the
> beginning. I will still need to find a Python CGI friendly host company.
>
> 4. Any suggestions on host companies for Python and/or Zope?
>
> 5. I do have an always-on cable modem connection in my home. Should I
> consider setting up a very simple web server on my own machine (rather
> than finding a Zope Host?). If I could set up such a simple server,
> allowing me to run server side Python scripts, or even CGI, I could link
> to those pages from my other web site, on my non-Python non-CGI friendly
> web host site.
>
> 6. Is Zope simply so complex that I will soon forget about why I enjoy
> Python, i. e., intuitive, easy to use fun coding?
>
> General and unrelated comment, for no particular reason, but it comes to
> mind in thinking about what I want to do in the project I have in
> mind:::
>
> It seems to me that Python offers straight forward, self consistent,
> logical coding. I like that! But any kind of GUI coding, including
> Tkinter, seems to me to be less intuitive, less consistent; involving
> more memorization of lots of non-connected facts. Python allows me to
> memorize principles and consistently and easily implement them. Most GUI
> programming seems more like I recall Java or even JavaScript coding;
> random,  unconnected stuff that is no fun because it's detailed and
> random
>
> sorry for the rant. please disregard ;-)))))