On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 10:35 AM, Andrew Gwozdziewycz <apgwoz@...> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 10:20 AM, Kyle R. Burton <kyle.burton@...> wrote:
>>> How long have you been using Python?
>>
>> I'm a new user. I've been programming in other languages for more
>> than 10 years. The ones which I have had the most experience are: C,
>> Java, C++, Perl and Lisp.
>>
>>> Where do you use Python? Work, Hobbyist, just
>>> starting?
>>
>> Over the next two months we're going to be implementing a new system
>> which will include a significant amount of use of Jython.
>>
>>> What is you current occupation?
>>
>> I am the Application Architect Manager at my company. Part of me
>> hates that title - because of the implications.
>>
>>> Where in the Philadelphia area would be a good place
>>> to meet?
>>
>> I'm more easily able to attend events in the 202 corridor (King of
>> Prussia, Malvern, Blue Bell, etc) though I can attend (though less
>> frequently) events in center city. I have been a member of PLUG,
>> phl.pm and Philly Lambda over the years (though I have only been to
>> Philly Lambda and PLUG West recently).
>>
>>> Would you be interested in helping with the group? Website hosting,
presenting, etc?
>>
>> Yes. We'll have several developers here that I might be able to
>> convince to join the group as well. I'm willing to put in the effort
>> to create and give intro talks as I learn aspects of working with
>> Python / Jython - it would help me learn them. I'm also willing to
>> help in other ways, though I'm not sure how.
>>
>>
>> Should I post this to the list directly? Any advice on getting started?
>>
>
> You can post to the list directly. There's a number of great getting
> started resources out there. I always recommend Marc Pilgram's
> www.diveintopython.org, which is free (but there's a dead tree version
> as well).

I've got a hard copy of that from a friend that I work with (Shawn Milochik).

> Python is currently going through some major changes--there's a 3.0
> release in alpha status now, and a 2.6 release also in alpha. 3.0 will
> be mostly incompatible with code written for 2.x.
>
> However, since you're interested in Jython, I think you need not worry
> about 3.0 or 2.6, because Jython to my knowledge is roughly equivalent
> to cPython 2.2 (cPython being the "real" Python). I believe the next
> target release for Jython is to be equivalent to cPython 2.5, which
> added a bunch of new interesting concepts that have become widely
> used. I believe that most code targetting 2.2 is usable in 2.5, but
> 2.5 -> 2.2 definitely is not.


Yes, the vendor we're working with said that they're not sure what
their migration path will be for the next release of Jython - they
have said they're able to get good performance out of the current
Jython via bytecode compilation for the JVM. They're not sure if
they'll be able to use the same techniques for the newer version.

Do you know what the differences are between 2.2 and 2.5/2.6 (let
alone 3.0)? I hope that the list-comprehension-like features are in
2.2, that's something that I'm looking forward to (ever since I read:
http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html).

Thanks for the pointers / resources.

Kyle