Dr. Dobb's Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Aug 5)

Mon Aug 5 16:21:07 EDT 2002

QOTW:  "Best practice is, as Neil said, to *think* about a module, and
hard, when 'cleaning it up'.  Widespread mechanical edits aren't welcome,
and especially since the last such effort (massive conversion to string
methods) introduced several bugs in the process.  Better to find modules
to love long-term and keep them deeply beautiful, than to splash paint on
boils at random just to cover up the oozing pus <gross wink>."
  -- timbot (  http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=mailman.1027979603.23658.python-list%40python.org)

"As a language designer, or BDFL, there's a fine line to walk between
keeping the language growing and expressive, keeping it simple and
regular, and just keeping it sensible. Guido's done a pretty good job in
my opinion. I'd say that Python is my 'Goldilocks' language - not too
restrictive, not too loose." -- Jonathan Hogg

"If I see one more msg containing 'Turing-complete' on this newgroup, 
I'm sorry, but the author dies. "
  -- timbot (  http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2851069096d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=UPMAIL09.199704290640490115%40msn.com)

    People ponder the lambda, and consider alternate syntaxes:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&threadm=aik9a3%24k7r%240%40216.39.172.122&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF8%26q%3Dcomp.lang.python
    ...but it's only hypothetical:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2223531272d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=mailman.1027935046.452.python-list%40python.org
    Some think lambdas are unnecessary:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl4016888880d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=xnh09.145677%24vm5.4740762%40news2.tin.it
    While others think anti-lambda biases are arbitrary:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl1085081912d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=7x3cu6f8sv.fsf%40ruckus.brouhaha.com

    Tim Peters reports on a new (faster) sorting algorithm he's checked in:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&threadm=dAh39.28645%24yc3.1200558%40bin4.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF8%26q%3Dcomp.lang.python

    Some discussion of Tcl idioms, and Python alternatives:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&threadm=Xns926026611E674rcamesz%40amesz.demon.nl&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF8%26q%3Dcomp.lang.python

    import * considered harmful:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&threadm=slrnaklo11.ocs.TuxTrax%40fortress.tuxnet&prev=/groups%3Fdq%3D%26num%3D25%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF8%26group%3Dcomp.lang.python%26start%3D50

    Guido explains why compiling Python to Java bytecodes won't, or
    perhaps shouldn't happen:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl3408831027d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=199704282226.SAA16801%40monty
    Look at the Python bytecodes yourself and see:
        http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/bytecodes.html
    And Terry Reedy suggests a potential bytecode optimization that has
    been a long time coming:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2851069096d&dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=bOy29.30662%24vg.1070500%40bin2.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com

    Francois Pinard gives the origin of the localization function "_":
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=mailman.1027542588.14725.python-list%40python.org

    Alex Martelli give optimization advice on the extremely common task
    of building strings from lists:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=vAD09.128813%24Jj7.2970701%40news1.tin.it&rnum=2

    A number of solutions are presented for finding executables in the
    PATH, in a portable fashion:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&threadm=mailman.1028125430.3390.python-list%40python.org&prev=/groups%3Fdq%3D%26num%3D25%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF8%26group%3Dcomp.lang.python%26start%3D150

    Is anyone working on combining Python and Mozilla?  Sleepy projects abound:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&selm=mailman.1028069976.12868.python-list%40python.org

    New Software:

    Another Python-Server-Pages-alike, empy:
        http://www.alcyone.com/pyos/empy/
    Crusader enters the fast growing ranks of Python web application frameworks:
        http://www.movatis.com/crusader/
    A dedicated web-services-server, MSS:
        http://www.ansolve.btinternet.co.uk/mss/
    An image processing application is begun:
        http://imageprocess.sourceforge.net/

========================================================================

Everything you want is probably one or two clicks away in these pages:

    Python.org's Python Language Website is the traditional
    center of Pythonia
        http://www.python.org
    Notice especially the master FAQ
        http://www.python.org/doc/FAQ.html

    PythonWare complements the digest you're reading with the
    daily python url
         http://www.pythonware.com/daily  
    Mygale is a news-gathering webcrawler that specializes in (new)
    World-Wide Web articles related to Python.
	 http://www.awaretek.com/nowak/mygale.html 
    While cosmetically similar, Mygale and the Daily Python-URL
    are utterly different in their technologies and generally in
    their results.

    comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software.  Be
    sure to scan this newly-revitalized newsgroup at least weekly.
        http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python.announce

    Michael Hudson continued Andrew Kuchling's marvelous tradition
    of summarizing action on the python-dev mailing list once every
    other week, into July 2001.  Any volunteers to re-start this
    valuable series?
        http://starship.python.net/crew/mwh/summaries/
        http://www.amk.ca/python/dev

    The Vaults of Parnassus ambitiously collect Python resources
        http://www.vex.net/~x/parnassus/   

    Much of Python's real work takes place on Special-Interest Group
    mailing lists
        http://www.python.org/sigs/

    The Python Software Foundation has replaced the Python Consortium
    as an independent nexus of activity
        http://www.python.org/psf/

    Cetus does much of the same
	http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html

    Python FAQTS
        http://python.faqts.com/

    The old Python "To-Do List" now lives principally in a
    SourceForge reincarnation.
	http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=355470&group_id=5470&func=browse
	http://python.sourceforge.net/peps/pep-0042.html

    The online Python Journal is posted at pythonjournal.cognizor.com.
    editor at pythonjournal.com and editor at pythonjournal.cognizor.com
    welcome submission of material that helps people's understanding
    of Python use, and offer Web presentation of your work.

    *Py: the Journal of the Python Language*
        http://www.pyzine.com

    Links2Go is a new semi-automated link collection; it's impressive
    what AI can generate
        http://www.links2go.com/search?search=python

    Tenth International Python Conference 
        http://www.python10.org            

    Archive probing tricks of the trade:
        http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python&num=100
        http://groups.google.com/groups?meta=site%3Dgroups%26group%3Dcomp.lang.python.*

Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are listed here:
  http://www.ddj.com/topics/pythonurl/         
  http://purl.org/thecliff/python/url.html (dormant)
or
  http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_q=+Python-URL!&as_ugroup=comp.lang.python

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e-mail us ideas directly.]

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