🌐 Mailman 3 April 2000 - Pythonmac-SIG - python.org

How well does Python really work on the Mac?
by Lou Pecora April 7, 2000

April 7, 2000

I've been looking into trying Python as a RAD/experimental tool for numerical programming and scientific work and all of you have been very helpful so far. I do have some reservations though and it seems to me that Python use is a bit convoluted in that to use something like Numerical Recipes I have to fire up my C compiler (codewarrior - very nice), write an interface for the Python module to use the special routine (say eigenvalue function), make a C-module (can CW do this?), make it available to Python. Have any of you done this? Is it easy, hard, transparent, entangled? I like what I see in the language very much and would love to jump in, but this "gotcha" keeps me worrying that the conneciton to standard numerical routines in C or those I would write in C for speed would be fragile -- we are depending on someone's writing the library for those Py_ calls right? Sorry for being so worrisome, but learning a new language is a big investment. I'm really hoping for good answers 'cause I'd love to take the plunge. Thanks for your help. Cheers, Lou Pecora

3 3

MacPython 1.6a1
by Jack Jansen April 7, 2000

April 7, 2000

An announcement and a warning: I'll try to release MacPython 1.6a1 before I go on a one-week holiday next monday. Because it has heaps of new stuff, not only the unicode support and such from the core Python but also GUSI 2 as I/O system and multithreading support (besides Appearance, Navigation Services and various other goodies) people should really treat this as an alfa release, i.e. things are expected to be broken. The warning is for people tracking the CVS archive: if you want to stay with something more-or-less stable you should checkout the "pre_GUSI2" tag, and stick with CWGUSI 1.something. -- Jack Jansen | ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ Jack.Jansen(a)oratrix.com | ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ www.oratrix.nl/~jack | see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm

1 0

Re: [Pythonmac-SIG] importing from nested folders?
by Jack Jansen April 7, 2000

April 7, 2000

> Newbie Q: > > I am trying to understand the use of paths and folders and import and/or reload. > I have a folder on my Mac whose path is in the sys.path. I have a folder in this folder (with spaces in the name...a problem?) and I want to import a file with its functions from that nested folder. There are three answers to this: The quick answer is "you can't". The pedantic answer is that you shouldn't want to do this. You're thinking of "import" as a mechanism to load files into Python, but the philosophy is exactly the reverse: import imports modules, and the filesystem happens to be a handy place to store modules, but that means that the part of the filesystem used to store modules has to adhere to the Python conventions: the folder should be in sys.path, the filename should end in ".py", the rest of the filename should be an identifier (start with a letter and then letters, digits and _) and there shouldn't be upper/lowercase conflicts. The useful answer is that there are many ways to extend sys.path without reverting to EditPythonPrefs. The most useful one is that the folder containing the main script is automatically added to sys.path. So, if you have a "main.py" in a folder with "sub1.py" and "sub2.py" you can double-click main.py, and "import sub1" will work. You can also manually do import sys sys.path.append("Macintosh HD:My Documents:Handy Python Modules") at the beginning of your script. And you may want to look up packages in the Python manual, these don't quite do what you ask (a package is a folder full of modules, and it is itself a module too from a Python point of view) but it may be near enough. -- Jack Jansen | ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ Jack.Jansen(a)oratrix.com | ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ www.oratrix.nl/~jack | see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm

1 0

importing from nested folders?
by Louis M. Pecora April 6, 2000

April 6, 2000

Newbie Q: I am trying to understand the use of paths and folders and import and/or reload. I have a folder on my Mac whose path is in the sys.path. I have a folder in this folder (with spaces in the name...a problem?) and I want to import a file with its functions from that nested folder. I've tried all sorts of ways to write the folder name with/without quotes, full path from 'root' level, etc. but I always get import errors. How can I access functions/files in nested folders or do I always have to set a sys.path to that folder? Is there a way to do that other than going to the configure python app? Thanks for any help. The language looks great, but getting started is the usual set of barriers and bumps. Lou Pecora email: Louis.M.Pecora(a)nrl.navy.mil Code 6343, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375-5000, U.S.A. VOICE (Me): 202-767-6002 FAX: 202-767-1697 == My comments are my own and do not reflect the views of the U.S. Navy. == == No Spamming or solicitations -- both are illegal at this site == ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out our Nonlinear Dynamics Web site: http://chaos-mac.nrl.navy.mil/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * The 5th Experimental Chaos Conference June 1999. Check it out at http://www.physics.gatech.edu/ecc5/ * The 4th Experimental Chaos Conference Sessions & Abstracts Online: http://natasha.umsl.edu/Exp_Chaos4, proceedings coming in a few days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

ANN: Stackless Python for MacOS
by Just van Rossum April 6, 2000

April 6, 2000

I Proudly Present a Not-For-Everybody(tm) Release: S T A C K L E S S P Y T H O N F O R M A C O S I've uploaded a "drop-in" replacement for the PythonCore 1.5.2 shared library here: <http://starship.python.net/~just/PythonCoreStackless.sit.hqx> It should be fully compatible with the latest MacPython release. What it is? Well, it's a modified version of Python which avoids the C stack, written by Christian Tismer. But, what *is* it? Erm, for one, see <http://www.stackless.com/> and then, for it's killer app -- Micro Threads -- see <http://world.std.com/~wware/uthread.html>. Stackless Python adds cool, but mind boggling features to Python: continuations & co-routines. I'm playing with MicroThread additions to the MacPython IDE, using separate threads for scripts. This looks *very* promising. If I manage to make something stable-ish, I'll post IDE patches to the MacPython sig. General Stackless talk should probably take place on comp.lang.python, Mac specific issues (as IDE support) should be discussed on the MacPython sig. Even though I still hardly understand the implications of it all yet, Stackless is IHMO the most exciting new Python development at the time, together with Unicode support in 1.6. Stackless will most likely not be incorporated into Python 1.6, but *maybe* if we make enough noise we can convince Guido it should go into 1.7... More stackless killer apps please! Have fun, Just

3 6

FYI: Darwin 1.0 released (fwd)
by Steven D. Majewski April 5, 2000

April 5, 2000

FYI: Darwin 1.0 has been released, including a binary distribution. ---| Steven D. Majewski (804-982-0831) <sdm7g(a)Virginia.EDU> |--- ---| Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics |--- ---| University of Virginia Health Sciences Center |--- ---| P.O. Box 10011 Charlottesville, VA 22906-0011 |--- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2000 11:30:14 -0700 From: Wilfredo Sanchez <wsanchez(a)apple.com> To: darwin-announce(a)public.lists.apple.com, publicsource-announce(a)public.lists.apple.com, darwin-development(a)public.lists.apple.com Subject: Darwin 1.0 (I'm sending this for Ernie, since he's at Internet World. -Fred) My Fellow Darwinians, It is barely a year since Darwin took its first baby steps out into the world, at the launch of Mac OS X Server. Today, on April 5th at Spring Internet World in Los Angeles, we are pleased to announce Darwin 1.0, the mainstream release for which you have all been waiting. We have synchronized Darwin with the latest Mac OS X sources, and have opened our Core OS development process so that it will stay that way. You should now feel free to write enhancements, fix bugs, and expand driver support -- and know that you're work will be compatible with future versions Mac OS X! This release even includes rudimentary Intel support, for those of you who'd like to make Darwin a full cross-platform OS. We also welcome David Zarzycki as the first full time Darwin Engineer. Of course the entire Core OS department at Apple writes Darwin code, but David will bring some much needed focus to the Open Source releases. We are thrilled that he has accepted this critical role, and I am sure you will all learn to appreciate him as much as I do. The web site has been completely redesigned, and is chock full of details about Darwin 1.0, including links to the press release and our new community site at www.DarwinOS.org (sponsored by Stepwise). As you know, Mac OS X will be released this summer, and distributed with all Apple hardware starting next year (making us one of the leading distributors of open source software!). Darwin is a critical piece of that, and I look forward to working with all of you to making it all it can be. Sincerely, Ernest Prabhakar Darwin Product Manager Apple Computer, Inc. P.S. A lot of people helped make this possible, but I want to offer my personal thanks to Simon Woodside, Darwin dual Marketing/Engineering Intern who finishes up next week. Without him, I doubt this release would have happened. -- Wilfredo Snchez, wsanchez(a)apple.com Apple Computer, Inc., Core Operating System / BSD Open Source Engineering Lead 1 Infinite Loop, 302-4K, Cupertino, CA 95014 ======================================================================== Unsubscribe: <mailto:darwin-announce-unsubscribe@public.lists.apple.com> Help: <http://www.lists.apple.com/darwin-announce.html> or <mailto:darwin-announce-info@public.lists.apple.com>

1 0

wxPython/wxWindows
by Matthew Barre April 4, 2000

April 4, 2000

While bumping around the internet I came across the Mac port of wxWindows 2. Is anyone working on a wxPython for Mac? The website for wxPython mentions that as following a wxWindows port to Mac that it would follow suit. Should I be hopeful? or get back to Tkinter fiddling? :) -Matt --------- "Luck will often enough save a man, if his courage hold." -Buliwyf

2 1

The edit/test cycle
by Louis M. Pecora April 4, 2000

April 4, 2000

I'm trying to get started on the "edit/test" cycle of developing python modules. One thing that immediately stumped me on my Mac is that I can define a path, put a file there (module with functions), and import it. But when I alter something in the file it does not show up in the interpreter (IDE). If I try to import again, nothing changes. Only quitting the IDE, launching it, again, and importing the module again gets the changes in place. How does one do the development when constant changes are necessary and need to be tested? Thanks for any help. Cheers, Lou Pecora

3 2

Re: [Pythonmac-SIG] MacOS X and Python
by Jack Jansen April 4, 2000

April 4, 2000

Does anyone know where/how/whether I can get DP3? I finally shelled out the $500 get onto the developer mailing list, but of course the OSX release is long out the door so I assume Apple isn't going to sent it to me anymore. Still, I wouldn't mind a copy so I can see how Python will work with it (and GRiNS, of course). -- Jack Jansen | ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ Jack.Jansen(a)oratrix.com | ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ www.oratrix.nl/~jack | see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm

1 0

MacOS X and Python
by Matthew Barre April 3, 2000

April 3, 2000

With MacOS X being POSIX compliant and having BSD at its core does this mean that the future of Python for Mac is going to be the *nix ports of Python? or will it be a hybrid of the current MacPyton(Apple Events, AS interfaces, etc) added to the Linux/Unix port? Has anyone with DP3 played with Python? -Matt --------- "Hey Harry, the clock on that nine foot nuclear bomb is ticking.." -Armageddon

2 1