[Pythonmac-SIG] How long until OS X Python is ready for prime time?

[Jack Jansen]

If you are developing a turnkey application I think I would suggest 
PyObjC. It can build on the installed /usr/bin/python, and an 
application in PyObjC will fit all your requirements (possibly with the 
exception of the 2MB download, I'm not 100% sure of that). Building a 
fullblown application with PyObjC still has a few rough edges, but 
they're being ironed out quickly.

Cross-platform is out of the question with Cocoa, though. If that is 
important to you you'll have to wait for either MacPython-OSX 2.2 or 
MacPython-OSX 2.3, both scheduled to go to alfa in another month. (The 
difference is that 2.2 will build on the Apple's pre-installed 
/usr/bin/python). And then you'll have to add wxPython or Tkinter, both 
of which are still a bit shaky (at least: they were the last time I 
looked). And with these solutions I won't vouch for their handling of 
accented characters and such.

On dinsdag, dec 3, 2002, at 20:51 Europe/Amsterdam, David Eppstein 
wrote:

> Whenever I look through the archives of this list, or elsewhere on the 
> net, I see: a big mess of multiple versions of Python, in varying 
> states of development, OS-X friendliness and installability, with 
> multiple different UI systems.  OS X.2 itself has a python 
> pre-installed (yay!), but unfortunately without UI components.  My 
> specific situation is as a developer of a large genealogy program (in 
> C++, for Classic MacOS) that I would like to make native for OS X.  
> This requires a massive rewriting of code and it's beginning to look 
> like it might be easier to start over from scratch in a friendlier 
> programming language.
>
> In order to do this in Python, I would need:
> - OS X native look and feel
> - Easy download and installation by computer-challenged senior 
> citizens (e.g. standalone app with gzipped download size < 2Mb, no 
> installation of other packages or complicated command lines)
> - Transparent input and display of accented characters
> - Multiple windows mixing multi-font text and vector graphics,
> with ability to capture mouse click location within window
>
> It would also be helpful, but not essential, to have cross-platform 
> portability, display or editing of basic HTML text formatting, ability 
> to convert contents of vector graphic windows to bitmap image files, 
> and ability to distribute the program as closed source.
>
> Is anything like this available now?  If so, which version of Python 
> should I be looking at, and where are the easy installation 
> instructions?  If not, will it be available any time soon, or should I 
> be looking around for non-Python alternative solutions?
> --
> David Eppstein       UC Irvine Dept. of Information & Computer Science
> eppstein@ics.uci.edu http://www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/
>
>
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--
- Jack Jansen        <Jack.Jansen@oratrix.com>        
http://www.cwi.nl/~jack -
- If I can't dance I don't want to be part of your revolution -- Emma 
Goldman -