Python 2.3.1 Just Released

PSF writes "The Python Software Foundation (PSF) has announced the release of version 2.3.1 of the Python programming language. This minor release introduces a number of enhancements based on two months of experience since release of version 2.3. For more information see www.python.org/2.3.1."

Comments

Boost.Python Library

[Henry V .009]

I have been thinking of learning Python ever since I found the Boost.Python library at http://www.boost.org.

I suppose that it is time to go find a good tutorial. Anybody had luck using C++ and Python together with this?

Re:Boost.Python Library

[kraut]

There's a good tutorial for python at python.org, and I think there's some link to others. I've head people recommend Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Python, which is available online as well, but I found the tutorial enough to get going. It is a really easy language to pick up, certainly if you are capable of handling Boost ;)

Re Boost.Python - a colleague of mine just picked it up and had his first extension going in half an hour, and most of that was spent on sorting out LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

Re:Boost.Python Library

[costas]

Here you go:

• Everything's an object
  
• Loops, if blocks and the like are marked by identation/whitespace. Put another way, there are no {} religious wars, coz there ain't any {}s. Trust me, it's a beautiful thing.
  
• Code makes sense the first time you look at it. There are a few Python idioms that will take a bit if you're coming from the outside, but you will learn them fast and they are not that complicated.
  
• You will never appreciate another language again. Proceed with caution, this may be detrimental to your employment :-)
  

Sample code:

myfile = open("data.csv")
for line in myfile.readlines():
columns = line.split(',')
print "Column 2 is %s " % columns[1]

myfile.close()

Can you tell what this does? This is not the exception, this is the rule. Even deep-magic Python code is understandable by another developer after just a few looks. That's the main, big advantage over other high-level languages...

The real 2.3 release?

[phch]

Python 2.3 was released this summer a bit early to accommodate Apple's deadline for OS 10.3. Had there been no such deadline, I suspect this would have been the actual 2.3 release.

That having been said, I haven't noticed any serious problems with the "rushed" 2.3 release.

Re:The real 2.3 release?

[jemfinch]

Python 2.3 had its development accelerated, but it most definitely was not released early. Had we not chosen to accelerate development, we would have released it just a week later.

That's why you haven't noticed any serious problems with the 2.3 release. It wasn't rushed.

Jeremy

Re:Cross compiling

[pong]

Cross-compiling Python