Python-URL! - weekly Python news and links (Nov 17)

[Gabriel Genellina]

QOTW:  "I stopped paying much attention to this thread a while ago, but
you've got to admire the persistence of somebody who soldiers on even
though Aahz, Fredrik Lund, and Steve Holden are all on the other side of
the argument..." - Grant Edwards
    http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/msg/91db52ef3a5b98b7

    
    Duck-typing and type assertions: how much to check for type validity:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/6c71ab21ba5eeb49/
    
    Why do generators have separate next() and send methods?
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/e179dcd356c78d78/
 
    Explicit self is here to stay:
        http://neopythonic.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-explicit-self-has-to-stay.html
    
    Pros and cons of using "private" parameters to store function state
    across calls:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/d4c4adb365ab9f41/
    
    How to obtain a reference to the "current" module:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/685d3459fed28a53/
    
    A regular expression to match all Unicode punctuation characters:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/e6d9d7b7ea39df86/
    
    sqlite3 and MySQLdb cursors behave differently in certain cases:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/8ca7a8bb834ff65e/
    
    Unrelated types are not comparable by default in Python 3 - so a list
    conta= ining a few None elements cannot be sorted.  [plus: the intended
    usage of lists, tuples, and a hypothetical `frozenlist` type]:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/84e648f03f33210b/

    An inspiringly unusual use of Python:
	http://pythonide.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-make-money-with-free-software.html
    
    The way editors handle indentation -triggered by speech
    recognition- should be improved:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/3da481c2956bf0b7/
    
    Handling errors by means of exceptions: best practice:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/91b79ddbbd309030/
    
    Inverting a dictionary - that is, building its inverse mapping from
    value to list of keys:
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/b6a31d9497f21c62/
    
    Candidate to *Longest and Most Boring Thread of the Year* - started
    more than a month ago, currently discussing "The official definition
    of call-by-value", and "What't the value of an object":
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python/t/6163956596a8c082/
    

========================================================================
Everything Python-related 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
    marvelous daily python url
         http://www.pythonware.com/daily

    Just beginning with Python?  This page is a great place to start:
	http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/Programmers

    The Python Papers aims to publish "the efforts of Python enthusiats":
	http://pythonpapers.org/
    The Python Magazine is a technical monthly devoted to Python:
	http://pythonmagazine.com

    Readers have recommended the "Planet" sites:
	http://planetpython.org
	http://planet.python.org

    comp.lang.python.announce announces new Python software.  Be
    sure to scan this newsgroup weekly.
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.python.announce/topics

    Python411 indexes "podcasts ... to help people learn Python ..."
    Updates appear more-than-weekly:
        http://www.awaretek.com/python/index.html

    The Python Package Index catalogues packages.
        http://www.python.org/pypi/

    The somewhat older Vaults of Parnassus ambitiously collects references
    to all sorts of 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/

    Python Success Stories--from air-traffic control to on-line
    match-making--can inspire you or decision-makers to whom you're
    subject with a vision of what the language makes practical.
        http://www.pythonology.com/success

    The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has replaced the Python
    Consortium as an independent nexus of activity.  It has official
    responsibility for Python's development and maintenance.
        http://www.python.org/psf/
    Among the ways you can support PSF is with a donation.
        http://www.python.org/psf/donations/

    The Summary of Python Tracker Issues is an automatically generated
    report summarizing new bugs, closed ones, and patch submissions. 
        http://search.gmane.org/?author=status%40bugs.python.org&group=gmane.comp.python.devel&sort=date

    Although unmaintained since 2002, the Cetus collection of Python
    hyperlinks retains a few gems.
        http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_python.html

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

    The Cookbook is a collaborative effort to capture useful and
    interesting recipes.
	http://code.activestate.com/recipes/langs/python/

    Many Python conferences around the world are in preparation.
    Watch this space for links to them.

    Among several Python-oriented RSS/RDF feeds available, see:
        http://www.python.org/channews.rdf
    For more, see:
        http://www.syndic8.com/feedlist.php?ShowMatch=python&ShowStatus=all
    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://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0042/

    del.icio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary.
    It already aggregates quite a bit of Python intelligence.
        http://del.icio.us/tag/python

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

    Dr.Dobb's Portal is another source of Python news and articles:
        http://www.ddj.com/TechSearch/searchResults.jhtml?queryText=python
    and Python articles regularly appear at IBM DeveloperWorks:
        http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/search/searchResults.jsp?searchSite=dW&searchScope=dW&encodedQuery=python&rankprofile=8

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