remote read eval print loop

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 6:54 AM, Eric Frederich
<eric.frederich at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have a bunch of Python bindings for a 3rd party software running on the
> server side.
> I can add client side extensions that communicate over some http / xml type
> requests.
> So I can define functions that take a string and return a string.
> I would like to get a simple read eval print loop working.

Let's stop *right there*. You're looking for something that will run
on your server, take strings of text from a remote computer, and eval
them.

Please, please, please, on behalf of every systems administrator in
the world I beg you, please do not do this.

Instead, define your own high-level protocol and have your server
respond to that. One excellent way to keep things tidy is to use a
'command, parameters, newline' model: each line of text is one
instruction, consisting of a command word, then optionally parameters
after a space, then a newline. It's easy to debug, easy to read in
your code, and makes sense to anyone who's used a command-line
interface.

Six months from now, when your server still hasn't been compromised,
you'll appreciate the extra design effort :)

Chris Angelico