Book review review
Cameron Laird
Terry Rooker reviews *Programming Python* for the April 1998
*;login* <URL:http://www.usenix.org/publications/login/login.html>.
It's an accurate review (as are most articles *;login* publishes,
more or less), and one mildly favorable both to *PP* and the
language. I have a few quibbles with the article, which I'll
record here. Copies of this are going to Mr. Rooker and Mark, of
course.
I find it mildly anachronistic to emphasize "GUI-based networked
applications" as the desideratum "[e]arly in the 1990s". Was it
really that way? I thought GUIfication and socket (and RPC) were
less prominent then than SysAd and text processing and arithmetic
sorts of things. Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention.
When Mr. Rooker writes, "Python never caught on widely, so it is
difficult to support publication of several different books," he
gives an ambiguous impression that I wish to clarify. My sources
tell me there's no particular problem on the demand side, in the
sense that several publishers are receptive to proposals for "a
tutorial or beginner's introduction ... and ... a comprehensive
reference to the language." The principal constraint is on the
supply side: there just aren't enough authors around with the
interest and ability to tackle the subjects.
I find Mr. Rooker excessively dramatic in labeling Python's ability
to mix procedural, functional, and object-oriented styles "a
disaster waiting to happen." I do agree this ability, and what
best to do with it, deserve more discussion. Mr. Rooker himself
"still [has] not decided if this is good or bad."
Mr. Rooker says of the Monty Python references that "they sometimes
appeared to be a forced attempt at being cute." From what I know
of Mark, he has to force himself not to be cute.
I think comparison of the relative merits of Python and Java is
more interesting than the one paragraph Mr. Rooker gives it.
Readers at least should know of <URL:http://
www.python.org/doc/Comparisons.html>, so they can learn more on
their own.
The review ends, "[Python] may be relegated to a niche player.
But if you want an alternative to Java, Python is a good choice,
and this book is the perfect starting point."
--
Cameron Laird http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/home.html
cla...@NeoSoft.com +1 713 996 8546 FAX
Mark Lutz
Cameron Laird writes:
> Terry Rooker reviews *Programming Python* for the April 1998
> *;login* <URL:http://www.usenix.org/publications/login/login.html>.
First off, I'm flattered whenever people take time to critique
my work, I haven't read this review yet, and it would be unseemly
to say much about it even if I had. But I'd like to comment on
a couple recurring points that Cameron underscored on this list:
> When Mr. Rooker writes, "Python never caught on widely, so it is
> difficult to support publication of several different books," he
> gives an ambiguous impression that I wish to clarify.
To paraphrase a pretty good writer, rumors of Python's death have
been greatly exaggerated. Python is really just getting started;
saying it "never caught on widely" seems premature at best.
True, Python is years behind some languages in terms of "market"
visibility, but there are plenty of signs that we're catching up
fast. (Personally, I've signed on to two additional Python projects
for O'Reilly, and not because I'm a glutton for punishment :-)
Regardless, this business is lots of things, but one thing it's
not is static. Clairvoyance isn't all it's cracked up to be.
> Mr. Rooker says of the Monty Python references that "they sometimes
> appeared to be a forced attempt at being cute." From what I know
> of Mark, he has to force himself not to be cute.
No, it was forced. I guess it's time to come clean on this.
Some of it is a blur to me now, but for two long weeks during the summer
of '95, I was strapped to a chair in a dark room at O'Reilly's east-coast
compound, forced to watch endless Monty Python reruns, and fed nothing
but Spam. They wouldn't let me leave until words like "ni", "shrubbery",
and "parrot" started appearing at seemingly random intervals in my writing.
And then there were the implants... [insert X-files theme song here]
Naturally, not everyone has the same sense of humor. Lots of readers
told me that they enjoyed the funny bits, but it's a pretty subjective
area. The only objective thing worth interjecting is that Python is
named after a BBC comedy series; humor is a fundamental part of its
culture (and, I think, life in general, but I'm not in a deep enough
mood to go there today ;-).
Mark ("Pull my finger") L.
David Ascher
On Mon, 13 Apr 1998, Mark Lutz wrote:
> Some of it is a blur to me now, but for two long weeks during the summer
> of '95, I was strapped to a chair in a dark room at O'Reilly's east-coast
> compound, forced to watch endless Monty Python reruns, and fed nothing
> but Spam. They wouldn't let me leave until words like "ni", "shrubbery",
> and "parrot" started appearing at seemingly random intervals in my writing.
> And then there were the implants... [insert X-files theme song here]
I'm even worse off. I *stayed up voluntarily* to watch Monty Python @ the
Hollywood Bowl last Saturday night (ah, PBS =)... Must be the subliminal
messages in the X-files reruns, or the subtle encoding in the "X" logo,
designed by the folks at Letterror, where Guido's brother works -- aargh!
it's a conspiracy!!!
The only good thing is I finally understood the Justice Kennedy quote from
a couple of weeks ago about the NEA funding rules -- wink, wink, nudge
nudge...
--da
"that's not a very silly walk, now, is it?"
Chyden.Net
Mark Lutz wrote:
>
> Naturally, not everyone has the same sense of humor.
Dear, gentle, Mr. Lutz:
Not everyone has *ANY* sense of humor.
I -- an economist-turned-businessman who never got "Hello World" to work right
in C++ -- have enjoyed reading _Programming Python_.
I find computer science as god-awful as you probably find economics. Applied
computer science [programming] is fun, and applied economics [making money] is
fun. The textbooks that teach both subjects are mind-numblingly dreadful.
Anyone who finds _Programming Python_ "too cute" needs to have holes drilled
in his head to let the evil spirits out.
> The only objective thing worth interjecting is that Python is
> named after a BBC comedy series; humor is a fundamental part of its
> culture (and, I think, life in general, but I'm not in a deep enough
> mood to go there today ;-).
Right. What was van Rossum supposed to do? Call it Hilter?
> Mark ("Pull my finger") L.
Charles "I'm not touching that nasty thing" Evans
CKO, Chyden.Net The World's First BeOS ISP
http://chyden.net
Proud sponsor of www.AlienEngineering.com
Andrew Kuchling
Chyden.Net writes:
>Mark Lutz wrote:
>> The only objective thing worth interjecting is that Python is
>> named after a BBC comedy series; humor is a fundamental part of its
>> culture (and, I think, life in general, but I'm not in a deep enough
>> mood to go there today ;-).
>Right. What was van Rossum supposed to do? Call it Hilter?
In Kim "Howard" Johnson's _Life Before and After Monty
Python_, he lists some of the alternate titles for _Monty Python's
Flying Circus_ that were considered and rejected; a partial list is in
the Python-quotes file. One of the titles was "The Year of the
Stoat", and I think Stoat would be a great name for a programming
language.
#!/usr/local/bin/stoat
--
A.M. Kuchling http://starship.skyport.net/crew/amk/
I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first
dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light.
-- Isaac Newton
Tim Peters
[Chyden.Net, The World's First BeOS ISP]
> ...
> Anyone who finds _Programming Python_ "too cute" needs to
> have holes drilled in his head to let the evil spirits out.
Worked for me! Check this out:
http://zikzak.zikzak.net/~thirdeye/
couldn't-give-or-receive-a-finer-gift-ly y'rs - tim
Doug J Edmunds
On Sat, 18 Apr 1998 02:56:43 -0400 "Tim Peters" writes:
>Worked for me! Check this out:
>
> http://zikzak.zikzak.net/~thirdeye/
CAUTION
The Surgeon General warns that improper use of this device
may cause difficulty viewing magic eye pictures (or then
again, you might finally be able to see one).
http://www.vision3d.com/optical/DrTryIt.gif
Why I am a 3D Vision Evangelist
by Rachel Cooper
http://www.vision3d.com/lazyeye.html
...quote.......
Did you know that the 90s have been
designated as the "Decade of the Brain"? If
this is the "Decade of the Brain", what
happens when it's over?
So many questions . . .
.......and another ........
Since I've acquired stereo vision people ask me to
describe what it was like when I didn't have it. Here
is a very short answer. The visual world looked flat.
It felt like I was here and everything I was looking at
was over there. .........
\dae
Please oh please read no further !
What follows is an ad that I didn't put here and can't control really
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