Newbie's 1st Web App decisions!

[Steve Holden]

"Scrumpy" <reply at in_newsgroup.tks> wrote in message
news:a8i8gn$rbe$1 at hfc.pacific.net.hk...
> I want to learn Python for use in creating web apps and possibly to create
> stand-alone apps with wxPython.
>
> To help you Python scholars understand my limited programming/scripting
> background I've;
> 1) Created apps within the following environments - dBASE IV, Lotus
> Approach 2 & MS Access (an old version) with limited use of their related
> languages and no standalone exes and;
> 2) Created/coded HTML4.01+CSS2 static freebie websites which included
pages
> of formatted data created by merging HTML templates with CSV databases.
>
> Mainly my background is in IT/Network mgmt.
>
[ ... ]
>
> As far as books are concerned (a must) I'm thinking of buying
> Web Programming in Python (this is written partly(?) by the folks from the
> Slither project).
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130410659/qid=1017861581/sr=1-
> 3/ref=sr_1_3/104-5555059-2897528
>
I can recommend this one, as the author is a close personal friend ;-) But,
to set the record straight, apart from small acknowledged contributions, the
writing (and therefore the mistakes) are all mine apart from David Beazley's
contribution of the three XML chapters.

[ ... ]
>
> Webware seems to be one of the more respected projects and I get the
> impression that it improves the productivity/time to completion for people
> using it.
>
Webware is indeed a flexible and friendly framework, with much to recommend
it.

[ ... ]
>
> What I would be most appreciative of, is your helpful suggestions on how
to
> start in Python Web app development and on relevant books.
>
If you already have a server, just start writing CGI scripts for it. There
is a LOT of material on the web explaining how to do this.

Once you are familiar with web technologies, then pick up Webware or similar
and start to build applications using your framework of choice. Come to
c.l.py with questions!

> Finally (at last you cry!), although Zope is one way to go, as this is for
> me primarily a learning experience, I would prefer to stay closer to
Python
> and 'perhaps' enjoy better web app performance. Zope does seem to be
better
> suited for creating CMS apps but I am not creating a CMS app :)
>
I would tend to agree with you on this one. Although the Zope book list is
slowly growing, there's a lto to learn before Zope makes sense.


"Python Web Programming" is intended to explain enough of the technology, in
enough detail, that you can build web systems in Python without having to
use an external server. It doesn't try to argue that this is always the best
way to go, though.

regards
 Steve