Flython?

[Daniel Ellison]

Peter Hansen wrote:
> simo wrote:
> 
>> There's a few libraries for making SVG files in PHP, so there may be
>> Python versions too, but if you want ActionScript then I guess you're
>> determined to go with Flash instead.....
> 
> 
> Well, SVG and ActionScript have very little, if anything, in
> common.  On the other hand SVG has much overlap with the rest
> of the "Flash" system (taken as a nebulous whole), and when
> supplemented with Javascript, in systems that can handle that,
> it starts becoming somewhat similar in many ways.
> 
> On the other hand, so far I haven't seen signs that SVG
> support has advanced enough to really be on par with the
> capabilities (mostly in terms of speed and simplicity) of
> the little bit of Flash/ActionScript that interests me.

Not to mention the size and ubiquity of the browser plugin.

> 
> My personal goal with this (and I believe Dan's as well)
> is to be able to create GUI software using ActionScript
> to write (roughly) the "view" and "controller" portions,
> with the back end ("model") implemented elsewhere (i.e.
> on a server) with Python.

Yes, I'd have to agree with that. The point isn't to get a free 
replacement for the Flash authoring environment. I own a copy of Flash, 
and know quite well how to use it: I've been using and programming Flash 
since v4. No, we want a Pythonic way of producing Flash "swf" files, and 
in doing so, simplifying (at least) the "view" considerably, and at the 
same time creating a much more appropriate interface for web applications.

> 
> Why?  Well, consider the alternatives.  D/HTML plus
> Javascript gives you the same basic structure, but at
> the cost of a mostly crappy kind of interface which
> violates all kinds of UI conventions, feels awkward,
> often runs slowly, and is a bitch to construct and
> maintain.

Peter has on occasion been the unfortunate audience of my rants on the 
current state of web application interfaces. I've been pushing the idea 
of a Flash client for years. There seems to be (there *is*) a prejudice 
toward Flash, probably due to those *very* annoying ads on web pages.

> 
> Something like wxPython is pretty good for fixing most
> of that, but then you actually have to install software
> on the client machines, which is pretty much the thing
> you want to avoid when you are trying to do client/server.
> 
> The idea is *not* to do pretty animations ala JibJab.com
> but "plain old GUI software" (POGS, to steal from Bell
> and coin a phrase at the same time).  SVG really isn't
> up to the task (yet), and even if it is I suspect there
> may be really serious performance issues for some time
> to come.  Flash has a compact bytecode, while SVG comes
> as XML.  Need I say more?

Nope! :)

> 
> -Peter


Dan