Beginners list of Python donloads - please review

[Will]

Pardon two post in a row to the newsgroup but I want to try and expedite
this, if you guys don't mind helping out...

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going...

1 - Python-2.3.3.exe from www.Python.org
2 - win32all, a collection of Windows-specific extensions including COM
support and Pythonwin, an IDE built using Windows components from Mark
Hammond's
3 - Py2exe from http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/index.html
4 - PythonCard from http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/
5 - WxPython from http://www.wxpython.org/
6 - Python Docs from http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.3/
7 - Beginners Guide to Python from http://www.python.org/topics/learn/
(various options here)

Please suggest additions or deletions.

Thanks - Will

 

[Colin J. Williams]

Pardon two post in a row to the newsgroup but I want to try and expedite
this, if you guys don't mind helping out...

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going...

1 - Python-2.3.3.exe from www.Python.org
2 - win32all, a collection of Windows-specific extensions including COM
support and Pythonwin, an IDE built using Windows components from Mark
Hammond's
3 - Py2exe from http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/index.html
4 - PythonCard from http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/
5 - WxPython from http://www.wxpython.org/
6 - Python Docs from http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.3/
7 - Beginners Guide to Python from http://www.python.org/topics/learn/
(various options here)

Please suggest additions or deletions.

Thanks - Will

You might consider adding numarray, if you are interested in numeric
problems - linear algebra etc.

Colin W.

 

[Stephen Horne]

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going...

3 - Py2exe from http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/index.html

Py2exe strikes me as probably unnecessary for a beginner. It's more
something to use when you're distributing a final program, and even
then there are arguments against this approach as well as for it.

Of course beginners may be reassured just to know it's there if they
need it.

6 - Python Docs from http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.3/

Aren't the Python Docs included in the main Python distribution?



For more advanced beginners (if that isn't a contradiction <g>) who
are interested in C/C++ interoperability, you might want to list...

http://www.swig.org/
Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator - automatic generation of
wrapper code to link C/C++ and Python (or a range of other
languages).

http://www.boost.org/
Boost C++ libraries, including Boost C++, for extending and
embedding Python.

http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python/Pyrex/
If you want to write an extension module more as an optimisation
rather than for interoperability, Pyrex is basically a compiled
language with near-Python syntax, which can make a huge difference
for some types of code.

 

[Chirag Wazir]

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going...
.....
Please suggest additions or deletions.

If you're doing anything at all with images you will probably need:
The Python Imaging Library - http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/

And yes, the Python docs are included in the Windows distribution as a
CHM file - you only need to download them separately if you need HTML
or PDF.

 

[Myles]

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going... [...]
Please suggest additions or deletions.

PyChecker : http://pychecker.sourceforge.net/
Checks for invalid syntax, possible misspellings, etc.

Dive Into Python : http://diveintopython.org/
Read the chapter on unit testing.

Regards, Myles.

 

[Scott David Daniels]

If your machine has a fancy-ish display card, it probably does
OPEN-GL. If so, you might check into VPython as another download.
The visual aspect is enough to keep your interest up.

http://vpython.org/

 

[Sridhar R]

Pardon two post in a row to the newsgroup but I want to try and expedite
this, if you guys don't mind helping out...

Also check the FAQs in www.python.org

I running Windows XP Pro and wanted to download Python and any additional
tools I should consider using as I get going...

If you're using GNU/Linux, most of them would be installed
_by_default_ !

1 - Python-2.3.3.exe from www.Python.org
2 - win32all, a collection of Windows-specific extensions including COM
support and Pythonwin, an IDE built using Windows components from Mark
Hammond's
3 - Py2exe from http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/index.html
4 - PythonCard from http://pythoncard.sourceforge.net/
5 - WxPython from http://www.wxpython.org/

You shouldn't forget PyGTK (http://pygtk.org). Also try,
http://gnome.glade.org
search google for windows version of glade and pygtk
GTK is IMO the best Toolkit. I (and others) also feel that wxWindows
(and thus wxPython) is buggy. So you're just warned. But go and
learn them.

6 - Python Docs from http://www.python.org/doc/2.3.3/
7 - Beginners Guide to Python from http://www.python.org/topics/learn/
(various options here)

Please suggest additions or deletions.

No deletions. But there are/may be lot of additions. Google for
python to get enormous links. Enter the query like

[ python -monty ]

 

[Stephen Horne]

If you're using GNU/Linux, most of them would be installed
_by_default_ !

And equivalents for perl, and tcl, and...

My last Mandrake distro came on seven CDs, and they accuse Windows of
bloat! ;-)

And the 'but it's free' argument for Linux doesn't apply here - the
Windows equivalents are just as free. Windows allows you to install
all kinds of free and open source software (at least for now).

And as for changing the install options, first off a kind of
dependency hell tends to happen, and second there's the problem that
many installers are poorly tested for non-default options.

Don't get me wrong - I'm by no means a Windows fanatic (who could be?)
but when you claim a particular thing as a clear advantage for Linux
over Windows (to the point of adding an exclamation mark, even) it's
best to make sure it really is a clear advantage. This one seems
rather more dubious to me. And if you claim dubious advantages as
clear advantages, IMHO it only helps the people who claim that linux
enthusiasts are irrational.

I (and others) also feel that wxWindows
(and thus wxPython) is buggy.

There is, sadly, some truth in this. I get some (minor) GUI glitches
just running the demos, for instance. And the last time I used
wxPython seriously I discovered that common newbie errors can quite
easily crash Python - something which IMO just shouldn't happen in an
interpreted environment. This was a few releases ago, though.

My initial reaction to proposing the use of pyGTK rather than
wxWindows was simply that you lose more than you gain - a lot of
people aren't going to be keen to lose Windows as a possible platform
for their applications. But I do usually try to check my facts, and so
I found this...

http://www.async.com.br/faq/pygtk/index.py?req=show&file=faq21.001.htp

GTK and PyGTK on Windows - that came as a bit of a surprise, but
certainly a nice one

I must have a play...

Mind you, that's not to say that I'm giving up on wxWindows/Python.
They may not be perfect, but I still think the balance is
substantially in their favour.