[PyAR2] Getting to know you

[Derek Horton]

But wait...there's more...

What would I like to get from this list?

Initially two things:
- a good explaination of modules, packages and namespaces
- a recommendation on a good python intro book.  I know about Learning
Python, Beginning Python, etc.  But which one is the best?  I don't really
care about syntax, what an if statement is, while loops, etc.  I'm looking
for something like Scott Myers Effective C++, but for Python.

Later,
Derek


On 11/16/07, Derek Horton <derek.k.horton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Howdy!  My name is Derek and I'm a recovering Perl programmer.  :)  I've
> been using Python on pretty much everything I can (which hasn't been just a
> whole lot unfortunately) for the past year and a half or so.  So, I still
> consider myself a Python newbie.
>
> I have to admit though that the first time I looked at Python I walked
> away unimpressed due to the whitespace delimiting and the lack of curly
> brackets.  Then I used another scripting language for a while and came
> running back for the cleanliness of the whitespaces.
>
> I also like the "batteries included" thing about python.  Need to download
> something from the web...import urllib, need to write some unit
> tests...import unittest.  Nice!!
>
> Oh, yeah, I'm also an "object oriented puke weenie", so I like Python's
> support for OO.
>
> I work for Acxiom and have for the past 8 years or so.  I mostly code in
> C++ and some Perl, but I'm trying to use Python anyway and anywhere I can.
> I'm mainly interested in backend processing and middleware, but here lately
> I've been trying to get back into some web development.
>
> Later,
> Derek
>
>  On 11/15/07, Greg Lindstrom <gslindstrom at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > At the end of today we have 26 members of our humble mailing list.  To
> > say I'm pleased would be quite an understatement.
> >
> > About a week ago, Chad Cooper wrote me asking what had become of
> > previous efforts to create a Python Users Group in Arkansas.  I have
> > attempted to create one on two separate occasions and both fizzled pretty
> > quickly.  With Chad's encouragement -- and he is quite enthusiastic as I'm
> > sure you will discover -- we decided to try again, still believing there
> > were other Pythonistas in Arkansas.  Seeing the list grow today really has
> > me excited.
> >
> > There are a lot of things I like about Python, and many of them have
> > nothing to do with the language!  I have always liked the sense of community
> > Python has fostered.  Alas, with the growth of the community I think we are
> > losing the 'unconditional friendliness' and heading towards more traditional
> > mailing lists with flame wars and more hostile responses; especially to
> > newbies.  While this is *our* list (not belonging to Chad or me), I would
> > like us to strive for a spirit closer to the original comp.lang.python,
> > where the most outrageous flame I ever received was "really, Greg, Google is
> > your friend" and the most simple question was greeted with a gentle
> > response.
> >
> > I used to work with a good friend who felt is was not only his right,
> > but obligation (!) to humiliate users asking what he deemed to be simple
> > questions because it would encourage them to look up the answer on their own
> > next time.  It's a plausible theory, but I used to teach high school
> > mathematics and physics and can not imagine making fun of a student asking
> > for help.
> >
> > Another thing I like is because Python is so simple, you meet all sorts
> > of personalities.  PyCon, the annual Python convention ( www.pycon.org)
> > sports uber-geeks, sure, but there are also musicians, newspaper workers,
> > and teachers.  Conversations are about real topics, not just Python.  One
> > thing I've noticed is with most languages you will here "I am a
> > [C|C++|Perl|Java] programmer where most Pythonistas will say "I use Python
> > to....".  I like that.
> >
> > For the past 3 1/2 years I have been the senior programmer at Novasys
> > Health in Little Rock where we have written a fairly large (about 80,000
> > lines of code) application to help us process health care claims.  Our web
> > developer -- who is a member of this list as well -- choose PHP for our web
> > presence, but virtually all of the back end work is done in Python
> > connecting to a Postgres database (as well as Oracle, SQL Server, and IMAGE
> > databases).  We have come up with a number of innovative techniques to
> > handle data and I look forward to sharing them with you.  I also look
> > forward to seeing what you're doing.
> >
> > About a month ago I was promoted to the Manager of the IT department at
> > Novasys.  Please don't hold that against me; I still code over 75% of my
> > day.
> >
> > As for where the list will go, I don't know.  I have things I want to
> > accomplish and will pursue them while helping others.  If you want to get
> > involved, this is the place for you; get to work!!  Perhaps you just want to
> > know how to do something (connect to an Oracle database, work with objects,
> > process images, make a web page); ask away!!  If you want to sit back and
> > watch for a while, that's OK, too.
> >
> > If you would, take a few minutes and let us know a little about you,
> > what you do with Python (maybe you just want to learn it), and what you want
> > out of the group. At this point, all ideas are good ideas.
> >
> > --greg
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > PyAR2 mailing list
> > PyAR2 at python.org
> > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pyar2
> >
> >
>
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