Website using Python--what's best architecture? CGI?

[Tim Roberts]

Andy Robinson <andy at reportlab.com> wrote:

>>
>>So, don't CGI ! Programming a CGI highly dynamic site is a hassle, even with
>>the help of a templating or HTML generator package (like HTMLGen and
>>others).
>
>I disagree.  Several years of making reporting 'add-ons' to other
>people's app servers, which are usually CGI scripts, has taught
>me something very interesting.  Our apps consistently respond
>several times faster than the big Websphere or ASP systems that
>talk to them.  The other systems have usually been written by
>large numbers of smart programmers over time and tend to get
>big and slow as they add more features, or maybe just because
>they have a heck of a lot of code to execute in their main loops..   

You know, this is an excellent point.  One of the big benefits of CGI
programming, in my view, is that each transaction starts out fresh, with a
clean slate, and is neatly encapsulated.  I think that makes CGI-based
websites easier to understand.

Many of the frameworks turn my website into one gigantic, complicated
program.  For gigantic, complicated websites, maybe that's a price one is
willing to pay, but for medium-sized websites that will not have a
dedicated support team, I think the CGI model still has a place.
-- 
- Tim Roberts, timr at probo.com
  Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.