[Pythonmac-SIG] sys.path for MacPython 2.3 - next set of questions

[Paul Berkowitz]

On 4/15/03 2:33 PM, "Jack Jansen" <Jack.Jansen@oratrix.com> wrote:

> Paul, 
> don't worry: this is exactly what we're trying to do, make MacPython 2.3
> so comfortable to both Mac-heads and Unix-heads that there really is no reason
> to use anything else.
> 
> The bad news about standard inclusion by Apple, however, is timing. I don't
> expect to see MacPython 2.3 as part of 10.3, see my other message of tonight
> for why not. So for 2.3 one of my concerns is making sure MacPython 2.3 and
> any other Python (either Apple-installed or user-installed) are not going to
> bite each other, perhaps even cooperate, and at the very least cause as little
> user confusion as possible.

Would it eventually be possible - with 2.3 or a future version - to make Mac
"additions" to the standard install rather than a whole other installation?
Then it might even be possible to provide users with a simple installer of
these additions. Do I gather from some of your recent posts that you might
be attempting to set up something of this sort?

I would appreciate a reference to somewhere that would explain why Mac-only
additions are needed or are desirable in Mac OS X. I can understand why you
might want to have a later, better version of Python for development than
makes it into the last OS release. But what are these Carbon libraries I've
seen mention of? Are these ports of components required for MacPython in OS
8/9 that let developers port their classic applications to OS X? Or
something else?

> 
> And: definitely keep the comments coming. There's enough unix-expertise and
> MacOS9-Python expertise here so that we won't make too many bad mistakes in
> that area (cross fingers), but what we're *really* after is the new converts
> like yourself.

Thank you for your kind welcome. I found my way here initially here because
I needed help with Mac-specific PYTHONPATH and PATH on OS 10.2. Most of the
discussions here are about matters beyond my comprehension (comp.lang.python
seems more up my present alley) although I'll continue to ask a few
questions about basic Python language now and again if that's OK.

I'm coming from somewhere probably quite different from most others here:
somewhere that I think could probably prove quite a fallow "recruiting
ground" for Python on the Mac in future if things are made uncomplicated.
I'm coming from AppleScript. When I discovered the enormous wealth of Unix
capabilities suddenly opened up by OS X, including through 'do shell script'
in AppleScript itself, I didn't know where to start - there's just too much.
So many different languages. A couple of people advised me to look at
Python, and I was hooked. It can do everything, it seems, and then some.

But there's an added advantage for AppleScripters - Python's language has a
family resemblance. Much of it seems familiar at first sight - lists,
dictionaries (records in AppleScript) being mutable, strings immutable,
indentation, untyped variables, an expressive non-cryptic vocabulary, and
its OOP. Python's OOP is much more thoroughgoing - creating my own classes
has been the most foreign aspect for me (although you can create script
objects in AppleScript, they're less used and less versatile). AppleScript's
syntax is, by design, even more "English-like" - I know the alternative
legal versions of expressions bothers some people (but it's really rather
trivial) - but again there are similarities when compared with the
impenetrable symbolism of Perl. Apple is planning a new version of
AppleScript (2.0) to be a more serious programming language. I think that
AppleScript and Python complement each other very well, and Python may well
get some more "converts" from AS if there's a clear path laid out. I've seen
one or two familiar names here already.


-- 
Paul Berkowitz