Zope questions and comments (&Tkinter???)

[haaserd]

I first downloaded Zope in January of this year, tried using it for a couple
of weeks, was overwhelmed, gave it up for a month.  I tried again, this time
giving it a solid month of effort, and managed to get a CGI application
converted from PWS (I use Windows ME).

I recently discovered Webware and promptly gave up on Zope:  (1) DTML is
coyote-ugly.  (2) I found it really clumsy using the Zope web interface for
DTML and pygmy Python scripts and then using another editor for more serious
modules which had to go in the extensions directory.  (3) For a one person
environment, Zope is too complex and the management/security features are of
little benefit.

I have made more progress in a week of using Webware than I did in a month
of using Zope.  And that includes downloading and installing Apache.

Roger Haase



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 ;-)))))