[python-uk] Python evening talks in London: Ten lines of code

[Tim Golden]

Michael Grazebrook wrote:
> Allow me a trip into fantasy land. I'd like to play with an idea for a 
> lecture of broad appeal suitable for the 11th, where we addresses a 
> wider audience of non-Python users. What do you think?
> 
> *Ten lines of code - Python's power*
> *Lecture by* ???, Michael Grazebrook, and ???
> *Date & Time*: 11th April 2007
> *Networking and refreshments* 17:30 - 18:30.
> *Lecture: *18:30 - 20:00
> *Networking and Wine reception *20:00 - 22:00
> *Cost: *Free
> *Venue:* The IET, Savoy Place, London, WC2R 0BL
> 
> Python is a superb language for the casual user. Yet it's also robust 
> enough to run business on. This talk is aimed at people who've never 
> used Python before, to show how to do simple but powerful things with 
> it. It's also about protecting the fish in Dad's pond.
> 
> This talk presents five small programs, each in less than ten lines of 
> code, which you could easily adapt:
> 
>     * A program to grab (?the event calendar from the IET web-site? -
>       some web page) and put it into Excel
>     * Driving some hardware from a simple USB-driven bread-board
>     * A simple web server
>     * A simple Windows user interface using WMI
>     * Putting it together - a remote application with hardware to
>       protect dad's fish

I think it looks great. Needs a fair bit of cooperation
to make it happen, mind you!

> I've never used WMI 

Just in case (and it's mildly ambiguous from your
one-liner above): WMI is an API for monitoring and
to some extent controlling your Windows-based system,
*not* a user-interface-building toolset. Obviously,
you might have meant above: write a user interface
to some WMI stuff, but I read it as: use WMI to write
a user interface. If it's the former, I'm very happy
to think up some kind of way in which you can use
WMI to do *something* which we can build an interface
to. Don't know what, though!

If you're really after an interface builder, I know
from his blog that Michael Foord has done stuff with
IronPython and the .NET Windows Forms stuff, so maybe
he could step forward. (But I'll leave that up to him).

> I'm also thinking we might use it as a networking event to see what the 
> interest is like and put together more meaty proposals for more 
> specialised themes. Would you lot turn up even though the content isn't 
> advanced?

> My fear is that this rather trivial stuff would not attract you lot

I don't think you have anything to fear on this score. Obviously,
I can't speak for everyone, but my experience in person and on-line
is that Pythoneers are remarkably friendly people and are very
happy to show just how useful Python is for all things great
and small. Speaking for myself here I'd be delighted to take
part if my area of usefulness is useful, and delighted to just
come along and cheer and participate and answer questions if
it's not.

I'll pause for a few hours after sending this (it's 8.30pm
on Saturday evening now). I don't know if anyone's got back
to you privately. If so, perhaps you might publish a summary
of where things are at.

TJG