[Tutor] Writing scripts and apps for Internet consumption

[David Hutto]

On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 2:34 PM, David Hutto <smokefloat at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 2:27 PM, Eric Hamiter <ehamiter at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Not sure if this is the right place for this, since this is a tutor list,
>> but I think it is because it involves learning Python and the application of
>> knowledge.
>>
>> I've just started learning it as my initial programming language as of two
>> months ago. I like to think I'm making steady progress, and I now understand
>> the most rudimentary level of the basics. What I keep reading is how Python
>> is most powerful on server side applications, in the cloud, so to speak. The
>> portability of Python is also widely evangelized.
>>
>> Here's my problem with this so far-- I can write a basic script, have it
>> take in data, rearrange it, and spit it back out. Following along in a book,
>> I can write a basic GUI or game. It's all wine and roses on my Windows
>> laptop, where I have everything configured just right, with all of the
>> modules in place where they need to be.
>>
>> Moving this to a server or even another computer so far has been a seemingly
>> impossible task. There's a lot of documentation for CGI scripting (which is
>> now frowned upon, with every page recommending looking into wsgi), and there
>> have been applications devoted to transforming scripts into Windows
>> executables (py2exe, etc.) but it seems like this is much more confusing
>> than need be, and I can't get them to work regardless. When I try and google
>> for solutions, choosing any terms like "web" or "server" point me to massive
>> framework solutions like Django or Pylons, which seem extraordinarily
>> complex for what I want.
>>
>> Specific examples: I have a livewires/pygame GUI game I wrote along with
>> folowing the book "Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner" and it
>> works great on my laptop. I tried installing Python/pygame on a work
>> computer and copying my scripts over, but it endlessly fails with errors so
>> obtuse I can't troubleshoot. I'm not even sure if I have the correct modules
>> installed here. Should they be under "Lib" or "libs" or "includes"?  Trying
>> to use py2exe fails because I can't figure out how to include non-scripts in
>> the final program, like .pngs or .jpgs. How would I even begin to put this
>> on a server? I'm clueless.
>>
>> Another program I am using on my laptop is a convenience script-- it takes
>> in a text list of groceries, and spits out a formatted list based on aisle
>> locations so I can get in and out of the grocery store faster. My laptop is
>> the only place I can use this. I've tried using multiple CGI examples, and
>> it always results in a "File Not Found" error. Not even sure how I can debug
>> it. I can have the server do a simple one-line of printing "Hello World" but
>> anything more complicated than that makes it implode.
>>
>> The most frustrating thing is how flippantly experienced programmers say to
>> use Django for Python web apps because it's so simple to use. It took me a
>> good half-day to just install it, and unless I'm writing a sample code or if
>> I want to clone a newspaper service, I have absolutely no idea how I would
>> use it efficiently. I want to learn the basics before running off to learn a
>> new framework. I'm trying to find good resources so I can continue self
>> teaching, but everything I find seems to be tailored to two classes: the
>> complete newbie who doesn't know how to print a line, or an advanced
>> programmer who is using list comprehension within a recursion with multiple
>> modules.
>>
>> In short, is there a "simple" method for putting python scripts onto a
>> server that I do not host myself? I've seen web2py and it looks like it
>> would be more my speed, but support is lacking and doesn't seem too
>> compatible with my host. I use Dreamhost, and they are very adaptable and
>> configurable, but so far I can't find an easy way to accomplish what I want.
>>
>> Thanks for reading this far if you did! I welcome any suggestions
>> whatsoever.
>>
>> Eric
>>
>>
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>>
>
> Get a linux hosting account, and a web address, most linux hosting
> comes with python, so practice in the 'cloud'.
>
 Some might argue that this would be a production server, so to speak,
but it's just for target practice, right?