[Pythonmac-SIG] New Page, first proposal

[Bob Ippolito]

On Feb 8, 2006, at 10:35 AM, Chris Porter wrote:

> (snip)
>>
>> Then we need Pointers to download pages for packages:
>>
>> One page for the 10.3 build.
>
> How does a build differ from a system?
>
>> One page for the 10.4 build.

This has been talked about a lot recently.  The way it's built  
determines what range of systems it's compatible with.  For example,  
the in-progress 2.4.2 universal build is compatible with Mac OS X  
10.3.9 and later, and builds extensions compatible with both i386 and  
PPC architectures.  The only problem with this build is that Mac OS X  
10.3.9 users can't use it to build extensions at all (out of the box,  
anyway).

>>> For me, the list would be (1) get Bob's framework (2) pick and
>>> install an IDE
>>
>> Given the state of IDEs and their installers, don't start there.  
>> Start
>> with a the terminal and a text editor.

Perhaps one of the text editors that has a "run in Python" button  
would be a good middle-ground, with lots of screenshots or a screencast.

>>> Somebody who comes idly to the idea of programming in Python, and
>>> finds the pythonmac page, will be happy if the result is an
>>> afternoon's work that ends in a "hello world," possibly in a window.
>>>  Using my own arbitrary preferences, that would entail:
>>>
>>> 1. downloading & installing Bob's framework 2. downloading &
>>> installing TigerPython24Fix 3. adding /usr/local/bin to the PATH
>>
>> We really should build an installer that does the three of these  
>> at once
>> (with the PATH editing optional). I have no idea how to do that,  
>> though.

Well, TigerPython24Fix is only relevant to that *particular* build.   
If we do a 2.4.2 build then it only has to do 1. and 3.

>>> 5. downloading & installing [fill in name of IDE]
>>
>> Until there is one robust enough to really recommend, we're not there
>> yet. How's SPE doing on the mac these days? Also, different IDEs are
>> different, they each need their own tutorial, ideally one Mac- 
>> centered,
>> but that's no our job.
>>
>> I do think a little "getting started" tutorial with a editor and the
>> command line is a good idea, however. enough that they can read  
>> one of
>> the intro books and know what to do.

wx based applications like SPE will probably give Mac users a bad  
first impression.. they don't look or act very natively.

>> Bill Janssen wrote:
>>
>>> Who wants to open windows?  Why is a GUI automatically necessary?
>>
>> I agree, it's not. And if your goal is web programming, it never  
>> will be.

That's an excellent point.  Leading into a getting started with  
TurboGears or Django tutorial would be beneficial to that crowd.

>> , in three minutes:
>>> 1)  Click on Applications/Utilities/Terminal.
>>>
>>> 2)  In the terminal window, enter the following line:
>>>
>>> % pythonw
>
>
> I tried typing in python, and got the same response as typing in  
> pythonw.
> Then I tried "pythonx" "pythona" and "pythong", all of which got me
> something like this:
>
> -bash: pythona: command not found
>
> Be nice to know why only some letters after 'python' are allowed.

http://www.google.com/search?q=pythonw

There is python and pythonw -- that's it.  At least until you install  
third party scripts that have "python" in their name like ipython.

>>>>>> import wx app = wx.PySimpleApp() frame = wx.Frame(None, -1,
>>>>>> "Hello World").Show(1) app.MainLoop()
>
>
> Tried this in a Terminal (window), this is what I got:
>
>>>> import wx app = wx.PySimpleApp() frame = wx.Frame(None,  
>>>> -1,"Hello World").Show(1) app.MainLoop()
>   File "<stdin>", line 1
>     import wx app = wx.PySimpleApp() frame = wx.Frame(None,  
> -1,"Hello World").Show(1) app.MainLoop()
>                   ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax

That's because all of the newlines are missing for whatever reason.   
It should be

import wx
app = wx.PySimpleApp()
frame = wx.Frame(None, -1, "Hello World").Show(1)
app.MainLoop()

-bob