Archive for April, 2008

Get to know Python

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

We recently decided to choose Python over PHP for a new project. I did not know Python, so I’m currently learning it.  I was always in love with the C like syntax of Java, PHP, etc. and could not really imagine someone liking anything else. However, I have turned around now.  I really, really like Python’s whitespace sensitive approach. It makes all your code look so clean and compact.

It is clear from the start that Python really forces you to take one approach. That seems inflexible at first, but ultimately it gives you less to make a decision about and improves consistency of the code.

I do think there is a lack of documentation at some point. The core language and most important modules have excelent documentation, but that is not true for everything, so sometimes I really felt the need to look at the source.  Which fortunately is very very easy to read.

What really helps me to learn Python as fast as I can is the commandline interpreter, which allows me to simply check what works and how data looks. Furthermore, the PyDev environment is a really great help, with immediate feedback about syntax errors.

If you did not give Python a try yet, please do, even if it looks a bit weird at first, it is really nice to work with.

Pink Stones

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

So what do you do with a pink stone? Well, you could turn it into something like this:

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I have just finished this second project. You can see intermediate steps at my PicturePush album.

I’m not sure yet, whether I’m completely happy with the result, so I might change it a bit later or just leave it as an experiment.