The Python Papers Anthology

An Efficient Scalar Package in Python

The Python Papers, Volume 1, Issue 1 3
Python Coding Idioms pt 1 – class interfaces
Tennessee Leeuwenburg
The first things to come to grips with in any programming
language are its basics – how to achieve tasks like calling
a  method,  creating  a  class,  reacting  to  user  input  and
creating data structures.
This can get you so far,  but without some more subtle
tools in the box, it can leave you with a series of ad-hoc
solutions which do not read naturally (by this I mean have
obvious  meaning)  and,  quite  likely,  result  in  inefficient
behavior.
This article will concentrate on coding idiom, in particular
that of using consistent ways for declaring methods within
python  code  for  indicating  additional  information  about
their intended use. By adopting this idiom it is possible to tell at a glance which methods of a
class are intended for public consumption, and which relate more to internal use.
Let's jump straight into an example (see Text 2).
Here we can see a class which represents a payment in
a  fictional  ordering  system.  The  payment  class
contains  a  trigger  for  its  processing  and  rules  for
performing that processing.
What is not obvious at first glance is which of those
methods are intended for other aspects of the system
to interact with directly, and which of those methods
are related to the internal processing logic. This article
will describe a habit which, if adopted, can provide an
at-a-glance  way  to  make  that  distinction.  Such  a
distinction is useful in learning how to use a new piece
of code (for example, extending and inheriting from an
unfamiliar class) and also for documentation purposes.
The effects of this on the final code will also be shown.
In short:
● 'Interface' methods are presented without a prefix
● 'Internal'  methods  which  may  be  over-ridden  are
prefixed by a single underscore
● 'Private'  methods  are  prefixed  by  a  double
underscore
This is consistent with PEP-81, and is basically a subset
of it. PEP-8's goals are to cover coding style, which is a
larger topic than this article can tackle. 
To  make  a  brief  diversion,  however,  coding  style  is
something which is often only appreciated after some
time spent programming. This is because its effects are
seldom seen within small or self-contained projects, but
rather  become  apparent  when  examining  code  years
later,  adapting  someone  else's  code,  or  in  small
efficiency gains which come from having good programming habits generally.
1 “Style Guide for Python Code”, Guido van Rossum: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/
id · i · om (n.)
2.2. The specific grammatical,  syntactic,
and  structural  character  of  a  given
language.
...
5.  A  style  of  artistic  expression
characteristic  of  a  particular  individual,
school,  period  or  medium:  the  idiom of
the French impressionists; the punk rock
idiom.
Text 1: Source: dictionary.com
Text 2: Initial ordering system without suggested notation
What's a PEP?
A PEP  is  a  Python  Enhancement  Proposal.
These documents make up what information
is available to the community, covering new
features, design decisions and other aspects
of Python development. They are available
at http://www.python.org/dev/peps/
The Python Papers, Volume 1, Issue 1 4
The  resulting  code  is  shown  (left,
Text 3) and methods can be easily
categorised  into  interface  and
internal methods.
For  a  developer  approaching  this
code  for  the  first  time,  it  is
immediately apparent which of the
methods he should call  in order to
trigger  processing  of  a  payment,
and  which  methods  can  be  left
alone.
Similarly, should a bug be present in
one aspect of the order processing,
it is easy to see that it will lie within
one of the internal methods.
Text 3: New ordering system code with underscore notation


Python Coding Idioms pt 1  class interfaces

The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 5
Programming Idioms pt 2   --  Design Patterns
Tennessee Leeuwenburg
I'll admit it – I live under a rock. I hadn't heard about Design Patterns until a couple of months
ago. So sue me. That said, I'll bet I'm not the only one. So what's a Design Pattern?
Simple.  It's  boilerplate  design.  The  idea  seems  simple  enough  –  many  problems  can  be
expressed in common ways. If that's true, then there should exist some small set of program
structures which are useful for many, many problems.
Identifying  these  and documenting  them is  what  is  involved  in  creating  a  Design  Pattern.
Armed with  a  library  of  Design  Patterns,  solving  a  complex  problem can  be  simplified  by
expressing it in terms of a problem that you already know how to solve – at least more or less.
The  seminal  text  in  this  area  is  Design  Patterns:  Elements  of  Reusable  Object-Oriented
Software9, often referred to as the GoF or Gang of Four, partly because it has four authors and
partly because it is a much shorter title.
One  of  the  first  things  that  occurred  to  me  when  I  was  thinking  about  this  topic  was
MapReduce10, an algorithm used by Google in distributed processing.
Many problems can be expressed in terms of operations which also happen to be easily run in
parallel. If a problem can be expressed in terms of a Map() and then Reduce() function, then it
is easy to make use of distributed processing.
While MapReduce is not one of the patterns addressed in GoF, many that are may already be
familiar to many programmers. These include Factories, Singleton classes, Adapters, Iterators
and others. 
They have all been built many times over because they are a sensible way to deconstruct a
program design. Design Patterns are an attempt to bring additional tools born from experience
to bear on problem analysis and code design.
There are further similarities with, for example, Agent-Oriented architectures and other such
design systems. If they have anything in common, it is because there is an overriding truth that
a complex problem must often be broken into component parts before a solution may be found.
A programming idiom is the lowest-level expression of this truth. As discussed in part one of
this series, a programming idiom is a practise adopted to help make the meaning of code
clearer. 
It is perhaps reasonable to say then that a Design Pattern is a practise adopted to help make
the medium-scale structure of code clearer.
Design Patterns for Python
Many Design Patterns appear to be closely linked to particular Object-Oriented models which
do not apply to Python as neatly as to other languages. For example, Python's dynamic duck
typing  obviates  some  of  the  patterns  which  relate  to  issues  caused  by  static  typing,  for
example the Abstract Factory  and Builder Patterns.
For specific information on how to use design patterns in your own code, “Design Patterns in
Python”11 is a good start. However, I will briefly list the Design Patterns which appear to me to
be most relevant to Python. These patterns are, in no particular order: Prototype; Singleton
9 http://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Object-Oriented-Addison-Wesley-
Professional/dp/0201633612
10http://labs.google.com/papers/mapreduce.html
11http://www.python.org/workshops/1997-10/proceedings/savikko.html
The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 6
(optionally  with  Borg style);  Composite;  Facade;  Flyweight;  Proxy (looks  Evil,  Ed);  Chain  of
Responsibility; Command; Iterator; Interpreter; Mediator; Memento; Observer (or Listener) and
Strategy.
Having read up on each of these (see GoF or else Wikipedia12 has an entry for each, see “Gang
of  Four”),  I  made  a  sub-list  of  patterns  that  I  have  used  myself:  Strategy;  Observer  (or
Listener); Iterator; Chain of Responsibility; Facade; Composite and Singleton.
However, I have rarely used these patterns as part of an overarching design strategy. Indeed, it
is still unclear how these patterns may be best integrated into system design for significant
components or applications. They appear more applicable to small-scale problems.
It is not clear, for example, how the Iterator pattern applies to a larger task – implementing a
Customer Relations Manager for  example.  Only once that larger system is broken down to
include a component which processes each customer does an Iterator become useful in solving
the problem.
Design Patterns, then, are a higher level of abstraction than an algorithm, but a lower level of
abstraction than system design.
When to use Design Patterns
The question then is, 'When should a Design Pattern be used?' If not during system design (too
low-level) and not line-by-line (too high-level), then when?
There are no hard and fast rules. Little academic research has been done on the topic, and
there are no de-facto standards here. As such, if you see an opportunity to make use of a
Design Pattern, doing so may well save you much time spent in the design phase.
Typically, the right time is when working on an individual component of a larger system. For
example, supposing the task at hand were to build an Internet chat room. This might require a
central  server  to  which  multiple  clients  could  connect,  some  kind  of  user  interface  for
interacting with the system, and messaging processing logic on both sides. This is the system
design level.
Let's dive into the server logic. The server will need to manage client connections and handle
the relevant message-passing. A simple server could be structured around a simple main loop
(Iterator pattern):
class ChatServer:
    def _mainLoop(self):
        outgoing = ''
        # Get messages coming in from each client
        for client in clients:
            incoming = client.getMessages()
            outgoing = outgoing + '\n'.join(incoming)
        # Push the message stack back to each client 
        for client in clients:
            client.recieveMessages(outgoing)
Here we see the use of an iterator which is central to the Python language. The ability of for
loops to process interated information is very useful. It allows iteration over lists, sequences or
even user-defined functions.
The Iterator pattern can also be used from the other side, so to speak, in writing code which
12www.wikipedia.org
The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 7
generates the items to be iterated over. It could be used, for example, as the basis of an event-
based system. Writing an Iterator which yields events would allow a simple for loop to control
program execution.
It can be seen that there are uses for Design Patterns just below the level of system design –
when building components identified during this earlier phase. This process of taking a design
requirement, and looking for a Design Pattern which might be able to meet that requirement, is
not just an exercise for its own sake. Rather, it is a logical short-cut. Implementing a problem in
an already familiar way will make the job quicker and simpler. Should the code ever be passed
to another programmer, they will be able to understand the execution flow that much more
easily.
To use another analogy, using Design Patterns liberally will encourage the use of common
structures in various system components, indeed across programs and even across
programming languages and systems. While a Java implementation may not be syntactically
the same as a Python implementation, the underlying structure of the code will be similar.


Programming Idioms pt 2   --  Design Patterns

The Python Papers, Volume 1, Issue 1 14
Python Events
Tennessee Leeuwenburg
OSDC 2006: Melbourne, December 5th-8th 2006
“The  Open  Source  Developers'  Conference  is  a  conference  designed  for  developers,  by
developers. It covers numerous programming languages across a range of operating systems.
Talks vary from introductory pieces through to the deeply technical. With three talks on at any
time, spanning over three days; there is bound to be something of interest to any developer.”
This  is  the  major  event  in  the  year's  Python  calendar,  with  a  major  component  of  the
presentations being from Python developers. Anthony Baxter (Python's release manager) is a
keynote speaker and will be looking at Python 3.0, IronPython (mono) and PyPy.
From the list of papers, a few immediately grab attention. “An Introduction to Plone: An Open
Source Content Management System” and “A Rails/Django Comparison” should provide web-
oriented Python developers with a good overview of available technologies. “Python 3.0” will
be on everyone's menu, as we look forward to language changes which all will  need to be
aware of in times to come. 
For more information, visit http://www.osdc.com.au/
Presentation Authors
Automatic Text Generation and Weather Forecasting Leeuwenburg,
Tennessee 
A Rails/Django Comparison Green, Alan and
Askins, Ben 
Development of Mono Applications with Agile Languages Rees, Mark 
Accessing Relational Databases with Python Todd, Andy 
RESTful Software Development and Maintenance Hyland-Wood, David 
Python in Mozilla Hammond, Mark 
What's New In Python: 2006 Edition Baxter, Anthony 
The Planet Feed Reader: Better Living Through Gravity Gardiner, Mary 
An Introduction to Plone: An Open Source Content Management System Aune, Nate 
What's Old Is New Again Jones, Richard 
Shiny, Pretty Things Jones, Richard 
Overview of Python ctypes Holkner, Alex 
Python 3.0 (keynote) Baxter, Anthony 


Python Events

The Python Papers Volume 3 Issue 2
ShowMeDo Updates
Ian Ozsvald
ShowMeDo.com exists to teach you new skills using screencasts.  We and over 100 open-source 
contributors make videos  for  the  site,  in  total  we have  730  screencasts  for  topics like  Python, 
Inkscape, Open-Office, Perl and web-programming.
By visiting ShowMeDo you'll  get  to  see  how other  people use a  language like  Python  -  which 
libraries they use, their development environment and the projects they favour.  You'll find over 340 
Python videos here: http://showmedo.com/videos/python
If you're a beginner to Python then you'll want access to strong, complete tutorials that teach you 
the necessary core skills.  Our Club hosts a subset of the videos and is for paying subscribers, each 
week we add two new videos (we're at  102 and counting).  These series include walk-throughs, 
examples  and  practical  exercises.   You  can  find  out  more  about  the  Club  here: 
http://showmedo.com/club
"As Ian says somewhere, he's found, organized, and presented information 
that would take weeks or months to learn in the ordinary way. Even if your 
time is worth only $10 per hour, I figure the value in time saved is at least 
$800. The skills are priceless." 
- Vincent DiCarlo
In an earlier Python Papers (Volume Three, Issue One : March 2008) we took a tour of the tutorials 
by our main Python authors.  In  this  issue we'll look  at the  Python videos that  have been added 
since last time.
Free Python Videos
First, let's take a look at the free videos. Most of these have been contributed by our open-source 
authors - you could contribute too (learn more at the end of this article).  By contributing you'll help 
to teach others about the power of Python.
Learning and Teaching Python
Gasto, Horst and Kirby have created 9 videos aimed at new Pythonistas.  Gasto shows you how to 
get started with the language and the new 'set' datatype: 
● Python from zero (2 videos), Gasto 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=cqZALPzt8)
Horst shows you how to use xturtle to draw turtle graphics: 
● Python: xturtle, random and genetischer Algorithmus (German), Horst Jensâ‚
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=yRIJviWLO)
The Python Papers Volume 3 Issue 2
● Kirby talks about using Python for math-education (which includes very nice graphics):
Python for Math Teachers‚ (6 videos), Kirby Urner 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=JkD78HdCD)
"Very helpful. I like the repetition you give using your examples it helps me 
more clearly understand what you are trying to say."
Simple  installation  videos  have  been  created  for  users  who  are  unsure  of  'easy_install'  and 
'nosetests' - these tools should be core skills for all Pythonistas:
● Installing easy_install, Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2070000&fromSeriesID=207)
● Installing nosetests, Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2100000&fromSeriesID=210)
Florian then builds upon these skills with an introduction to unit-testing, including a look at unit-
testing classes:
● Basic Unittesting with Python, Florian Mayer 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2840000&fromSeriesID=284)
Percious  further  extends  these  skills  -  first  he  looks  at  'virtualenv'  and  'pastescript',  these  are 
excellent tools to help with building virtual development environments and deployable applications. 
Next he covers unit-testing with 'nosetests' and execution coverage, finally he looks at how we can 
create  robust  documentation with  'sphinx'.  This  series  of videos  is  called  "Agile  Development 
Tools in Python": http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=mcfckfJ4w
"Very cool. I learned a lot from that. Fluid demonstration, easy to follow. I 
really hadn't heard much about virtualenv before but it looks hugely useful. 
Will become part of my workflow methinks. Great screencast"
-- Kyran
Python's use for  web-development continues  to grow with  frameworks like  Django, TurboGears 
and Pylons.  We have some great videos on:
● Setting Up a Django Development Environment‚(2 videos), ericflo 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=LY7fNbpc1)
● TurboGears 2, percious 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2870000&fromSeriesID=287)
● Agile Python+Pylons to build pySvnManager, Jiang Xin 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=Y7x8NhL6h)
Related tools include 'twill' which allows us to act as if Python was a web-browser (great for testing 
web-sites with unit-testing!):
● Installing twill 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2080000&fromSeriesID=208)
and a simple guide to using the simple XML-RPC remote procedure-calls library:
● Calling functions on a server using XMLRPC, Florian Mayer 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/video?name=2830000&fromSeriesID=283)
The Python Papers Volume 3 Issue 2
Whilst most of the videos in ShowMeDo are in English, some are in German.  Lucas and Marius 
are extending a new introductory Python series aimed at German speakers:
● Programmierung mit Python, Lucas Holland and Marius Meinertâ‚ (4 videos) 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=47MFnkxOe)
Finally, Erik Thompson keeps adding to his  excellent 'Developing emol!' series.  Over 24 videos 
show you the complete development process from initial plans, through class development, to 3D 
GUI programming and bug-fixing:
● Developing emol!, Erik Thompson 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=vXJsRwlBX)
"I can see that  this was a labor of love. I simply love the way you present 
this video. You do not pretend to be a GL expert and go through details to 
make it simple to understand for a beginner. You are not trying to show how 
good you are but to make the subject easy to understand."
Club ShowMeDo (for Subscribers)
In  the  Club  (http://showmedo.com/club)  we're  focusing  on  new  and  intermediate  Python 
programmers.  We're aiming to layout all the core skills, along with worked-examples of the major 
libraries, so a new programmer can quickly become productive.  Our paying subscribers give us the 
resources to spend more time building these long, well-researched tutorials.  We also give full Club 
access to all of our authors (you too can have full free access if you author a video for us).
For  new  Pythonistas  our  'Python  Beginners'  sets  introduce  the  core  language,  with  some 
comparisons to other languags like Java and C++, using simple real-world examples:
● Python Beginners - What Does Python Look Like?‚ (6 videos), Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=kmNu2xcp3)
● Python Beginners - Loops and Iteration‚ (4 videos), Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=tIZs1K8h4)
● Python Beginners - Common Variables and Containers‚ (14 videos), Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=AzsZ2afN2)
"Excellent  tutorial  -  Well  thought  out  example,  clear,  with  a  logical 
progression that builds on itself. In the end the goal of the tut is attained very 
well."
-- Hamish
Given Python's popularity for web-app development, we have a back-to-basics series on using the 
plain-old Common Gateway Interface:
● Introduction to Python web-programming: CGI, John Montgomery 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=gLK7tmgf4)
and this builds the viewer's basic knowledge so that tools like the Google App Engine make more 
sense:
● A Gentle  Introduction to the  Google App Engine Python SDK‚ (5 videos),   Kyran Dale 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=FtBpzKiWL)
The Python Papers Volume 3 Issue 2
"Glad to see you covering something quite current, and that does not require 
extensive programming experience."
-- Mike Adams
Database development is always popular, Kyran introduces the topic with plenty of examples:
● An Introduction to Database Programming with Python‚ (5 videos), Kyran Dale 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=iNiVCfz5B)
"Thank you a million again for such a great series."
-- hessianmatrix
Finally, since  Win32  COM programming  such  a  tricky  -  but useful  -  subject, we have  a  series 
showing how to interact with MS Excel in Windows XP using just a few lines of Python:
● COM and Python with pyWin32‚ (6 videos), Ian Ozsvald 
(http://showmedo.com/videos/ series?name=KTN7wMXVN)
Would you like your tutorials to be seen by thousands of Python 
viewers?
We always  welcome new authors  -  any  topics that  will  educate  our  usual audience  are  wanted. 
You'll find instructions for recording your first screencast here: 
http://showmedo.com/addVideoInstructions
and posting it to ShowMeDo is just as simple as adding it to YouTube (although we host videos at a 
larger size and much higher quality than YouTube!).
Our most popular topics include Django, wxPython and development environments but all topics 
have viewers in the long-tail and anything you record will find an audience:
http://showmedo.com/mostPopular
We have several forums and we're happy to help you create your first screencast, please do come 
and join us making more tutorials for Python.


ShowMeDo Updates

The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 8
Python User Group Highlights
This regular section will cover the activities of Python User Groups (PUGs) and Special Interest
Groups (SIGs) around the Planet. If your local group would like to feature in the next edition,
please contact editor@pythonpapers.org. This issue we cover the Toronto Python User's Group
and Python Brasil. The Python Papers (TPP) spoke to Mike Fletcher and Rodrigo Senra.
Toronto Python User's Group: PyGTA
Mike Fletcher> PyGTA is the Toronto
Python  User's  Group.  It  was  first
convened in  September  of  2002 and
meets  monthly  at  the  Linux Caffe  in
downtown Toronto. We have around 8
regular  attendees,  with  the  more
popular  discussions  topping  30
attendees. Our members have a larger
than  normal  (for  Python)
representation  in  the  embedded
systems  space,  but  the  range  of
interest is broad, from accounting and
billing software through 3D graphics,
web  development,  systems
administration,  media  editing  and
radio broadcasting.
Python  is  used  by  a  considerable
number  of  companies  in  the  Greater
Toronto  Area  as  an  in-house
development language. We also have a number of independent contracting companies who
provide bespoke software development.   Although we know there are a lot of academic and
personal Python programmers in the city, we don't seem to attract them to the meetings as
much as the professional programmers, a situation we would love to rectify.
HTH,
Mike 
Contact details for reaching Mike and others at PyGTA are available at the PyGTA website.13
13    http://web.engcorp.com/pygta
Illustration 1: PyGTA meeting in Jan 2007


Toronto Python User's Group: PyGTA

Frontmatter

The Python Papers, Volume 3, Issue 1 80
Upcoming Events
The  following  events,  taken  from  the  python.org  events  wiki55,  are  being  held  between
December this year and March 2008.
April  7-11,  2008:  Atlanta,  GA,  USA.  Django  Bootcamp  at  the  Big  Nerd  Ranch.
http://bignerdranch.com/classes/django.shtml 
April 12-13, 2008: Poznan, Poland. RuPy 2008. http://rupy.eu/
May 5-7, 2008: San Franciso, CA, USA. (Comprehensive) Introduction to Python course given
by Wesley Chun.  http://cyberwebconsulting.com/
May  14-16,  2008:  Longmont,  CO,  USA.  Learning  Python  course  taught  by  Mark  Lutz.
http://home.earthlink.net/~python-training/longmont-public-classes.htm
May 17-18, 2008: Paris, France. PyCon FR / Journees Python 2008. http://fr.pycon.org/
June 9-13, 2008:  Atlanta, GA, USA. Python Bootcamp with David Beazley at the Big Nerd
Ranch.  http://bignerdranch.com/classes/python.shtml 
July 7-12, 2008: Vilnius, Lithuania. EuroPython 2008. 
           http://wiki.python.org/moin/EuroPython2008  
To include your  event  in our  next issue,  or  to include expanded event information,  please
contact  us directly  to  ensure that  your  event  is  represented as you would like.  All  events
available from the python.org events wiki will be included with a basic reference.
55  http://wiki.python.org/moin/PythonEvents


Events

The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 2 35
EuroPython 2007
Paul Boddie, David Boddie and other EuroPython2007 Wiki Contributors
Now in its sixth year, EuroPython - known more formally as the European Python and Zope
conference - moves on once again. Upholding the EuroPython tradition of helping European
Python users and others to learn more about Python and its uses, the conference is also a great
opportunity to become acquainted with different parts of the European continent. This year,
EuroPython descends upon Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, calling it home from Monday
9th July until Wednesday 11th July 2007. Although the programme for this year's conference
has yet to be finalised, reports and materials from last year's highly successful event may be
persuasive for those considering making EuroPython 2007 part of their schedule.
EuroPython  2006  was  held  at  one  of  Europe's  most  significant  scientific  sites:  CERN  (the
European laboratory for particle physics research) in Geneva, Switzerland. With superb facilities
and a rich programme of highly informative, entertaining and inspiring talks, along with an
unparalleled backdrop of seriously big (and historic) scientific hardware, the conference proved
to be at least as memorable as those in previous years. As anticipated, Python's benevolent
dictator for life, Guido van Rossum, provided one of the conference keynotes, choosing to focus
on  Python  3000  and  the  road  ahead  for  the  language.  The  other  keynote  provided  fresh
insights  from a different  perspective on computing,  with  the  legendary figure of  Alan Kay
(personal computing and Smalltalk pioneer), unable to attend in person, appearing via a video
link on the big screen in CERN's main auditorium. Presenting a selection of demonstrations and
insights  into  the  role  of  computing  technology  in  the  education  of  younger  children,  he
highlighted the One Laptop Per Child project and its high Python content as an opportunity to
CERN – The European laboratory for particle physics research
http://flickr.com/photos/mrtopf/182294647/in/set-72157594184370918/
The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 2 36
introduce children to a more interactive and inquisitive form of learning than is often employed
in schools around the world.
Many informative talks and presentations provided the focus for the conference, demonstrating
Python's  suitability  in  a  wide  range  of
environments from Web programming to
graphical  user  interfaces,  collaborative
development  practices  and  personal
information  management  applications.
These even included a talk about Indico,
the  basis  for  EuroPython's  conference
management  site26.  More  advanced
technical  themes,  such  as  version
control,  scientific  computing  and
visualisation,  were  also  covered.  Talks
about  Python  and  its  implementations
were  not  excluded,  and  the  European
Union-funded PyPy project maintained a
presence  after  the  official  end  of
proceedings  to  run  one  of  many
"sprints".  These  focused  development
efforts encourage collaboration between
26   http://indico.cern.ch/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=44
“In the middle of  the Conference Room. Behind Guido van Rossum you can see the layout of  the CERN Conference Building with the 4
conference rooms”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/horstjens/183262607/
Reinout van Rees http://flickr.com/photos/
mrtopf/22795535/in/set-502414/
The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 2 37
experts  and beginners  with the aim of  making improvements  to  projects,  raising levels  of
expertise and providing hands-on experience to new recruits.
Of course, EuroPython is not just about talks and sprints. As is often noted by attendees at
conferences  like  Euro-Python,  the  social  aspects  of  such  a  gathering  can  often  provide
unforeseen value in the conversations and discussions which take place between talks or at the
planned  social  events.  Spontaneous  and  seemingly  incon-sequential  chat  can  often  reveal
details of fellow participants' expertise or experiences that would not be exposed through the
talk  programme  alone.  Although  it  is  possible  to  make  important  contacts  and  exchange
expertise without attending any of the talks,  we wouldn't  in any way recommend such an
extreme approach!
Registration for EuroPython 2007 should already be open by the time you read this, and for
those of you not already convinced of a journey to Lithuania this July, a talk schedule should be
available in the near future. With luck, you will be able to peruse the final list of talks and still
be able to register early for the conference, earning yourself a discount on the registration fee.
Find  out  more  and  start  planning  your  trip  on  the  EuroPython  Web  site:
http://www.europython.org/


EuroPython 2007

The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 2
Letter from the Editor
G'day Pythonistas! Welcome to Issue Two of The Python Papers. It has been an
exciting time and we are pleased to have reached this milestone.
The last few months have involved a lot of effort connecting with many groups
within the Python community. I'd like to say a big hello to all the people who
have provided their  input  in  making this  a reality:  the  python-advocacy list,
comp.lang.python,  the  Python  User  Groups  that  responded  to  the  call  to
participate and also many individuals.
The effort to support and assist in the growth of the Python community is an ongoing one. One
way to help in this process would be to build a strong presence of Python developers in various
online networks. One that springs to mind is LinkedIn1, a job-related social networking site.
If we could encourage Python developers to start adding each-other to their LinkedIn network,
then  we  should  be  able  to  create  a  well-connected  developer  network  with  business  and
industry contacts. This should benefit everyone -- both people looking for Python developers,
and also people looking for work.
This effort has already begun online, with many from the python-advocacy list linking to each-
other, and word is also leaking into the blogosphere2.
The idea is that Python developers link to other people they know personally (including via
online groups). Just a few such connections could put more Python developers within a few
degrees of separation of a huge network of employers and social contacts.
The benefits of this are manifold: each individual is connected to more people who might be
able  to  help  them  in  future,  both  from  the  client  and  employer  side;  Python  developers
generally become a well-connected resource, making Python more visible to the community at
large and potentially helping to drive its acceptance and adoption.
This is also the first issue where we have attempted to publish both a PDF and an HTML edition.
The choice of format was clearly an issue for many people on both sides. Going forward, we will
continue to use PDF as our primary 'authorative' version for the purposes of page numbering
and referencing, however the HTML editions will  be made public in order to reach a wider
audience.
Stop Press – Contribute and win!
We are also now able to announce that we have a free license to Wing IDE, a fantastic Python
development  environment  created  by  Wingware3.  In  order  to  win  a  3-OS  license  for  this
software, all you have to do is contribute an article4 to the next edition of The Python Papers.
Keep your eyes out next edition to see if you are the lucky winner!
Introducing The Team
Tennessee Leeuwenburg – Editor-in-Chief
Tennessee  Leeuwenburg  is  a  software  developer  working  at  the  Australian  Bureau  of
Meteorology on automatic text generation of weather forecasts. Prior to this he spent time
working  on  meteorological  data  transfer  standards  in  the  form  of  the  OpenDAP  database
system.
1 http://www.linkedin.com/
2 http://agiletesting.blogspot.com/2007/01/connecting-to-people-on-linkedin.html
3 http://wingide.com/
4 Contributors must not be on the editorial board to be eligible
The Python Papers, Volume 2, Issue 1 3
Maurice Ling – Associate Editor
Maurice Ling is a PhD candidate in the department of Zoology of the University of Melbourne
working on text  analysis  of  biological  literature for  the purpose of  understanding hormone
interactions in the mouse mammary cell.
Richard Jones – Associate Editor
Richard is  Common Ground's  5  senior software developer with 10 years of broad experience
working with multiple languages and tools in web-based management systems, data archive,
meta-data systems, business systems, e-commerce and communications. He also runs the bi-
annual  PyWeek Game Programming Challenge  6  and is involved with the organisation of the
Open Source Developer's Conference  7  in Melbourne, Australia.
Stephanie Chong – Design Assistant
One of Stephanie's first comments regarding the The Python Papers was “how can we make it
prettier?” We hired her on the spot.
Stephanie is currently studying Arts/Law at the University of Melbourne.
Contacting The Python Papers
The editors may be contacted via email at:
editor@pythonpapers.org
We are always looking for new writers for The Python Papers. If you would like to contribute an
opinion  piece,  an  article,  participate  in  an  interview  or  submit  a  paper  for  review  and
publication, please don't hesitate to contact us.
5 http://commongroundgroup.com/
6 http://www.pyweek.org/
7 http://osdc.com.au/


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