[Edu-sig] choice is good

[Kevin Altis]

Re the potential flame war over PythonCard and alternative methods of
building apps I just want to say that having choices is good. It is not
possible to provide a framework or environment that will meet the needs of
everyone. I think that it will be just as easy to build GUI apps on the fly
in the shell with PythonCard as tk, probably easier, but we aren't quite
there yet, nor do I see that as our main focus. I also don't see PythonCard
replacing the need for a more general and complete GUI library/framework
such as wxPython/wxWindows or Jython with the JFC... Those are more capable
for certain types of apps, but much harder to get started with, maintain,
etc. but if you need that power, then go for it.

It is also too early in the development cycle to completely evaluate
PythonCard, we are only on the PythonCardPrototype. Even when we're "done"
it won't replace everything else out there in Pythonland for building apps
and it isn't intended to, it will simply provide another tool that users and
Python programmers will have to leverage Python.

At a minimum, it will provide a lot of good ideas, most of them demonstrated
in software ten or twenty years ago (or longer), but apparently forgotten by
many programmers. For example, separating presention (our .rsrc.py files)
from the main source code to simplify doing layouts for different platforms
and languages and even allowing a designer to handle layout and a programmer
to handle coding.

That being said, the "competition" between different solutions for Python
acts as an incentive to make PythonCard better. The opinions about what
works "best" has to just be written off as opinion and each user has to
decide for themselves, hopefully based on trying competing solutions. We'll
be trying to present a better face than our competition through samples,
documenation, web site, and "marketing" of sorts because we want people to
at least try what we think is a great solution. Ultimately, though,
PythonCard will just be another solution to choose from.

ka
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Kevin Altis
altis@semi-retired.com