./1996 First Pybook.png.note====================================================
In the beginning... the first Python book started,
during the Python 1.X era (1.2 and 1.3, to be precise).
It was signed in 1995, after months of convincing the
Perl-focused publisher (then, O'Reilly & Associates)
to take a risk on an
_upstart_.
This was the first of 15 books and 12k pages to come.
It begat both _Learning Python_ and _Python Pocket Reference_
(ahead); essentially, two of its appendixes were split
off into standalone books. My optimistic sales estimate
in 1995 was 5k units, but by 2020, this title and its
progeny crossed the 750k mark. Takeaway: I'm lousy at estimates.
./1998 Puerto Rico 1.jpg.note===================================================
From an early training trip to San Juan,
_Puerto_ Rico_.
This was the first of many classes outside the
contiguous US. This was also the second year of training,
but there are no photos from earlier classes and few from
this timeframe in general; I never expected training to
become a thing.
Caveat: some of the early pictures here though 2002 are
scans of paper photos (see their info popups with a filename
tap or down-swipe). Digital cameras weren't common back then,
and the training business opened on a shoestring budget.
./1998 PyRef1E Book.jpg.note====================================================
The first _Python Pocket Reference_—a
details-only quick reference, which was derived from an appendix
in the first Programming Python of _1996_.
It covered Python 1.5 and at 80 slim pages wasn't much at this point,
but it grew into a more useful 260-page reference by
_2014_'s 5th Edition.
./1999 LP1E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The first _Learning Python_, based on Python 1.5.
My parts covered the core language, and drew from both an
appendix in the first _Programming Python_ of
_1996_ and my
expanding training experiences. There's really no better way
to hone teaching material than to present it live to rooms
full of users and critics.
My first
_editor_
wanted this book for people who would find the technically heavier
_Programming_ too much. He was right, of course: over the years,
this title has been by far the best selling of my three, and it became
a de facto standard introduction to a tool that rose to the top of
the programming-languages
_heap_.
A lot of people contributed to Python over the years, but
this title's teaching and publicity roles made it a major
factor behind that rise. It's still playing that part
some three decades
_later_.
./1999 OSCON 1 Tshirt.jpg.note==================================================
Swag from the first O'Reilly Open Source
_Conference_
in 1999. The snake is still fourth from the left at this point.
These events grew until the publisher pulled the plug
on its conferences business in
_2020_
amidst the pandemic and its own internal morph (though they also
grew old for me long before that).
./2000 Alameda.jpg.note=========================================================
From an early set of classes for TCSI in
_Alameda_,
in the Oakland area. TCSI was a telecom company, which also hosted the
Newmarket class in the UK up ahead this year.
./2000 NYC.jpg.note=============================================================
The first of three New York City classes (see also
_2006_).
This one was notable for a cold trek through Times Square
in search of food, an indecent proposal in the same venue,
and a class held in a skyscraper across from the
World Trade Center.
./2000 Newmarket 1.jpg.note=====================================================
The first overseas class (not counting Puerto Rico), in
_Newmarket_,
a small town near Cambridge, UK.
All told, I wound up teaching multiple classes in Mexico, Canada,
and Europe, including 7 training trips to the latter.
I also turned down classes in Australia, Japan, India,
Norway, and Saudi Arabia; more on the last of these in
_2001_.
./2000 Newmarket 3.jpg.note=====================================================
One of the horse farms in the area, Newmarket's claim
to fame (or so my Kentucky wife tells me). I stayed in
a bed-and-breakfast place nearby; Frosties and English
breakfast before trotting off to class.
./2000 Newmarket 4.jpg.note=====================================================
Exploring near the end of the Newmarket trip.
On the way back, there was a massive traffic backup
well before the airport, and my driver dropped me off
at a rural train station to catch a train the rest of
the way, even though I didn't know a thing about the
trains at the time. I wound up being told to run through
the airport to catch my flight.
And so began the travel stress dreams...
./2000 Palm IIIx.png.note=======================================================
The first of the gadget pictures on this page,
added for variety (and nerdity).
As a road warrior, I used a
_Palm_ IIIx_
like this one almost constantly in the early 2000s,
before switching to
_CLIÉs_ Palm PDAs,
_Zaurus_ Linux PDAs,
_OQO_ Windows handhelds,
and eventually
_Android_ smartphones—where
innovation has largely stalled. Follow the device saga ahead.
The Python 2.X scripts coded to convert Palm memos and
calendars for use on the Zaurus are still on this site; see
_the_ code_.
Was 2.X ever really broken?
./2001 Colorado.jpg.note========================================================
I started teaching my own public classes at a hotel in
_Colorado_
this year. These classes were for individuals who would fly in
to stay for the session_—a common model in the pre-pandemic world.
Before this, I taught public Python classes in
_Boulder_, Colorado
arranged by TCPC, a Perl training company (yes, really).
./2001 Dublin 1.jpg.note========================================================
The first of two classes in
_Dublin_, Ireland for a
reinsurance company. Fresh Guinness on Grafton
_Street_
and a day off to wander about and see the sights.
The UK and Europe in general are enormously impressive
for a traveler from a land whose history spans just
two and a half centuries.
_Travel sidebar_: I almost taught a class in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia this year, but there was a bombing in the area
I was booked to stay in, shortly before my departure.
Python may be cool, but it's not cool enough to get blown up for.
./2001 PP2E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The second _Programming Python_ was a completely different
book from the _first_:
it was able to narrow its focus to common applications
of the language, after the reference and language-tutorial parts
were split off to the _Pocket Reference_ and
_Learning_, respectively.
From this point on, this title would cover topics presented
hurriedly on the last afternoon of my three-day classes: the
Internet, GUIs, text, and the like. The book was able to do
a much more complete job than the classes, though what you
"do" with Python is enough to fill careers.
./2001 San Diego.jpg.note=======================================================
At _OSCON_ 3,
in _San_ Diego_.
Somehow, I jumped on a plane to teach the Dublin class just after teaching
a tutorial here.
./2002 Barcelona 1.jpg.note=====================================================
The next few pictures are from training for HP in
_Barcelona_, Spain.
I taught 3 classes here over two separate trips and had a weekend
off in between two classes to explore. Barcelona is an amazing place;
it's something like Southern California, but with history.
And yes, I got paid for this stuff.
./2002 Barcelona 2.jpg.note=====================================================
A statue of Christopher Columbus near the Mediterranean coast
on the _Ramblas_.
The first voyage was welcomed back here by Isabella and Ferdinand
in the 15th century. On the other side of the pond, I also taught
(and played squash badly) in
_Mexico_ City_
this year, but have no photos of the trip, regrettably.
./2002 Sony U1.jpg.note=========================================================
The Sony PCG _U1_:
a more-or-less handheld Windows PC, which was sold only in Japan
but distributed in the US by Dynamism in Chicago (which
later morphed into a 3D printing company, weirdly).
The U1's small form factor jived with my growing travel schedule.
It was a bit large for a handheld and a bit small for a
laptop, but its wow factor was off the charts at the time.
A few years later, Sony would also go small with the P series,
pictured _ahead_, and the
_UX_,
not in this gallery but comparable to the OQO
_ahead_.
./2003 Dublin 1.jpg.note========================================================
Back to _Dublin_
for a repeat engagement, this time with an extra
day to focus on the wxPython GUI toolkit. I tripped over some
stairs on the way to the airport and bruised up my leg
badly, but managed to teach the class anyhow; the show must go
on, especially when you've crossed an ocean to get there.
This photo was shot on a Sony
_Handycam_ digital camcorder,
but the result doesn't seem any better than paper scans. Digital photography
took off anyhow, especially with smartphones a few years down the pike.
./2003 LP2E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The second _Learning Python_ adopted new core-language training
material I had honed over numerous classes since 1E. The first edition's
coauthor opted to skip this edition and would exit in full on
the next, but most of the material (and work) was already mine.
./2003 Sony Clie.jpg.note=======================================================
The _CLIÉ_:
a Palm-OS based PDA from Sony, which sported
a keyboard, Internet connectivity, memory sticks, a high-res
color screen, audio players, camera, and more.
I started using one after the original
_Palm_
PDA started showing its age and before the
_Zaurus_ came online.
It competed with Windows Mobile at the time and
foreshadowed much of what smartphones would become
(sans the media prisons and data collection).
./2004 Colorado 1.JPG.note======================================================
More scenes from
_Colorado_,
home of public classes for individuals; private classes for Seagate,
HP, and others; and the instructor (at the time). This picture and
the next were taken in Rocky Mountain National
_Park_,
the setting for a later weeklong public
_seminar_.
./2004 Ft Walton.JPG.note=======================================================
The next two pictures are from 2004 classes: on the beaches in
Florida (while teaching at an Air Force base near
_
Fort_ Walton Beach_),
and California (while teaching at an HP site in
_
San_ Diego_).
The latter was the only one of the eight San Diego classes not taught for
_Qualcomm_.
./2004 Zaurus.JPG.note==========================================================
The Sharp _Zaurus_
PDA, a fully functional Linux-based handheld computer.
This was real Linux, long before Android's locked-down
flavor rose to dominate the handheld domain.
I owned two of the clamshell models and happily tapped out
Unix commands on both, before the OQO came along (see
_2006_).
./2005 Georgia BNR.JPG.note=====================================================
Two photos from 2005 training trips are up next: one of the
four sessions at Big Nerd
_Ranch_
(focus-enabling seminars held in the
Georgia woods), and another Puerto Rico trip (a return engagement
for the _1998_ client).
./2005 St Augustine.JPG.note====================================================
Another 2005 training trip: near St Augustine,
_Florida_,
where a hurricane churning offshore provided both color
and street flooding. (For anyone keeping count, I also
survived a hurricane in Virginia and a tornado warning
in Illinois, and got stranded by an Earthquake in Seattle
after a Vancouver class.)
All told, there were 32 classes in 2005, the second
busiest year, but 2006 would be even more intense;
see the main
__
Teaching Python__
page for the full list.
./2006 Chicago 1.JPG.note=======================================================
The first of a batch of training photos from 2006, a crazy peak-demand
year that hosted 43 mostly out-of-town classes (plus a 1600-page
book). The first two are from one of the many classes held for
trading companies in downtown
_Chicago_.
./2006 Doused OQO.JPG.note======================================================
The _OQO_,
a remarkable handheld computer that ran full Windows
before smartphones were around.
I owned two of these: the earlier model shown here (which
wound up being drenched by a spilled beer in London), and
the last model (which still works to this day; see
_2008_).
The OQO also ran real Excel with VBA—something
that neither Android nor iOS can do at this writing.
The OQO generated a lot of buzz at the time (and was demoed
by a B. Gates onstage at a Windows conference). Sadly,
its moment in the limelight was brief. Whether it was too pricey,
too ahead of its time, or too something else, OQO died before
the rise of smartphones, which still seem crippled by comparison
today.
./2006 Edmonton.JPG.note========================================================
A famously giant shopping
_mall_ in
_Edmonton_, Canada.
This class was for the Canadian weather service. The
airline lost my luggage here, and I wound up having to
scrounge up some replacements in a hurry (and during
snow-storm power outages). Much of the downtown area
was indoors, and there were plug-ins for car heaters
in the parking lot; cold up there, eh?
./2006 London 1.JPG.note========================================================
A week in London teaching for a major financial company.
This is where the first _OQO_
was baptized by a Guinness, at a pub nearby.
./2006 London 2.JPG.note========================================================
St Paul's from the Millennium Bridge (see also
_2009_).
./2006 London 3.JPG.note========================================================
The Tower of London. And if that's not historic enough
for you, there's part of the Roman wall across the street.
./2006 Monterey.JPG.note========================================================
The California coast at Monterey.
I was in the area to teach for Google at the
_Googleplex_
in Mountain View. The stock market was already raining
money on the place by this time. I remember being taken
to one of the company cafeterias, where the free lunch
of the day was wild boar. To which one of the people
in line lamented: "Aw; wild boar again?"...
./2006 NYC SpamAlot.JPG.note====================================================
The next three shots are from the two training trips to New York City this
year. For one, my hotel was near the SPAMALOT venue off Times Square. The
classes themselves were both downtown; one was near Wall Street, which was
still heavily guarded after 9/11. Somewhere along the way, there was
a jazz club, late-night street pizza, and Python training.
./2006 PP3E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The third of four _Programming Python_s, which expanded
its applications materials, and covered Python 2.5_—arguably
one of the best Pythons, and two years before 3.X cropped up.
Parts of this book were written during an all-night hotel
vigil in an Embassy Suites in downtown Chicago, before
teaching a class the next day. It was probably time to
start thinking about scaling back (and/or human cloning).
./2007 LP3E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The third _Learning Python_.
This one was exclusively about the core language. The former editions'
coauthor dropped out altogether, and his 1st Edition material was
trimmed to make room for new content derived from recent live classes.
The result was a cross-app book that reflected the real needs of
real learners; that probably accounts for most of this title's
success from this point.
This edition itself had some die-hard fans, and still does, though
it was a bit light on details, Python 3 was about to convolute the
story badly, and the code pointers added by the publisher were
arguably annoying (and were cut in 4E).
./2008 Seagate OQO 02.jpg.note==================================================
Teaching a class for Seagate in Colorado, with the
_OQO_ model 02
(after the 01 suffered a frothy
_fate_).
_Seagate_
was my busiest client: I taught 28 classes for the drive
maker in multiple locations. This was also a private but local class.
Out-of-town training stopped in mid 2007 for personal reasons
(synopsis: having a life beat having a business)
and wouldn't restart until late _2009_.
I did multiple classes with the OQO this way. When paired with a
Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and an HDMI or VGA projector, it could
easily stand in for a full PC for teaching. It ran Windows,
Python, the Internet, and everything needed to present a three-day
class. A smartphone with casting might suffice today, but this
was 2008, when the iPhone and Android were just getting started.
./2009 Dublin 1.JPG.note========================================================
St. Patrick's Cathedral in
_Dublin_.
This set of Dublin and London shots
are from a late 2009 training trip for a class in London.
By this time, I had scaled back teaching in 2007 and passed along much
of my business. This was the first out-of-town class since then, and it
spawned a brief restart for training the next year that lasted until
_2012_.
It was too soon to retire, but it was also too soon to know.
./2009 LP4E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The 4th _Learning Python_, for Python 3.X bifurcation.
This, and the 4th _Pocket Reference_,
were put out to cover the new and backward-incompatible Python 3.X,
released the prior year. Much of this edition's
_growth_
owes to having to cover two different language lines; the vast
majority of readers would still be using 2.X for many years to come.
Python 3.X broke most Python programs at the time, and many people saw
it as biased and rude, which is one reason its adoption was very slow.
2.X was not retired until 2020, some 12 years later, when it still
had a large and loyal userbase.
That said, 3.X is fully usable today, its Unicode model is more
coherent, and it's still a lot nicer than Java, C++, Perl, and
their ilk—especially if you ignore its bleeding-edge new stuff
(and perennial douche moves).
./2009 London 1.JPG.note========================================================
Big misogynistically named clock
_tower_.
./2009 London 2.JPG.note========================================================
Atop _St_ Paul's_
in London, after climbing the stairs in a jetlag stupor.
./2009 London 3.JPG.note========================================================
At the British _Museum_.
We came, we saw, we carted away the ruins of ancient civilizations.
./2009 London 4.JPG.note========================================================
White Tower at the Tower of London, built at the time of the
Norman _Conquest_.
Definitely creepier at night.
./2009 London 5.JPG.note========================================================
The London _eye_.
This seems as out of place as type hints in Python
_3.X_...
./2009 Vaio P.jpg.note==========================================================
Sony's _Vaio_ P_:
an ultraportable Windows PC that was small enough to qualify as a handheld
computer but too big to fit in a pocket. I wrote most of
the 1600-page _Programming Python, 4th Edition_ on this
(and boy are my fingers tired...).
./2010 Los Alamos 1.JPG.note====================================================
Scenes from a class at Los Alamos National
_Lab_,
New Mexico.
Government research centers were big early adopters of Python.
All told, I taught 10 classes at LANL here, 8 each at LLNL in
California and JPL in Pasadena, 7 at Fermi Lab, and 4 at other
NASA sites. Plus 2 at the NSA (but you didn't hear it from me).
./2010 Los Alamos 2.JPG.note====================================================
Closed at the time, but mostly about the bombs, probably.
./2010 Sarasota 1.JPG.note======================================================
On the beach in
_Sarasota_,
Florida—where I relocated in 2009 and began teaching public classes again.
The public classes here didn't last very long, because students'
expectations had been raised unrealistically by a flood of deceptive
marketing for online training, and I didn't want to be part of the grifting.
(Florida didn't last very long either, for reasons beyond the
scope of this gallery.)
./2011 Bloomington.JPG.note=====================================================
In a hotel during a tornado warning in
_Bloomington_,
Illinois. Is the sky supposed to be green like that?
./2011 Boxboro.JPG.note=========================================================
A snow event in the Boston, Massachusetts area, which was bad enough to
require modifying the class's schedule. I was living in Florida at
the time; this seemed like the apocalypse.
./2011 Burlington.JPG.note======================================================
The scene of one of two classes held for Oracle in the Boston area.
I also taught for Sun in Colorado before Oracle digested it (along
with _Java_)
./2011 Chicago 1.JPG.note=======================================================
The next four photos are from yet another
_Chicago_ class:
from the hotel in Streeterville, the classroom downtown,
the river by Michigan Avenue, and the Field Museum on the
lake. Over the years, I taught 17 classes in Chicago,
second only to California's 52 (about 30 of which qualify
as the Bay Area).
./2011 Chicago 4.JPG.note=======================================================
The last of the Chicago-trip photos:
the Field _Museum_—inspiring
to a kid from the area decades ago, and an adult from afar decades later.
./2011 Hartsfield 2.JPG.note====================================================
A disturbing scene in Atlanta's Hartsfield
_
airport_,
site of many a plane change in this timeframe.
(The one I deleted before this was even cornier.)
./2011 Los Alamos 1.JPG.note====================================================
Back at one of the classrooms at Los Alamos National
_Lab_.
A typical venue, though the lab-work machines were
more secure than some.
./2011 PP4E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The 4th (and likely last) _Programming Python_: updated
to cover Python 3.X only, and revised for new practice
in application domains. Most of the 3E programs reappeared,
but they were enhanced and ported to run on just 3.X. Given
the focus on larger examples, dual 2.X/3.X coverage here would
have been impractical.
This book wound up very different from its 1996
_origin_,
but it still retained the original conclusion that used
the _Gilligan's Island_ TV
_show_
as a metaphor for the
software development field. Hey, it's still funny to me.
./2011 San Francisco.JPG.note===================================================
Two more classes from 2011: in San Francisco for Dolby,
and the Washington, DC area for Harris.
./2012 Marysville.jpg.note======================================================
The last pictures from the 2010…2012 training restart_—Marysville in Ohio
(for Scotts lawncare), and Volcanos from a plane above the Pacific Northwest
(where I had relocated by this time).
I stopped training altogether in late 2012 to focus fully on the
_Learning Python_ update, and the follow-up _Pocket Reference_
revision. Training will briefly resume two years later in 2015 but end
in full in _2016_.
./2012 Volcanos.JPG.note========================================================
Above the _PNW_
en route to one of this year's classes. That's Rainier, Adams, St Helens,
and Hood; Baker is on the other side of the
_plane_.
./2013 LP5E Book.jpg.note=======================================================
The 5th Edition of _Learning Python_, the bestselling of
all my books. I stopped training in 2012 to focus on this
one exclusively for a year.
This was something of a swan song for my Python writing career,
incorporating the best of the content honed by the classes I had been
teaching since 1997. The net result is a sort of training session in
a book, and a still-popular alternative to the myriad of online options
that arose in this era. I hope that's been as gratifying to readers as
it has been to me.
(Spoiler: see also _2024_).
./2013 Tree Justice.JPG.note====================================================
You have to read the
__Teaching Python__
page to get this joke...
./2013 Vaio Z.jpg.note==========================================================
The Sony
_Vaio_ Z__—a
Windows "Ultrabook" that was the main writing and coding machine for
the _Learning Python, 5th Edition_ project. It ran Windows 7 and
dual-boot Linux and was a stellar PC, though it required a repair after
the 1600-page _LP5E_ project blew out
its keyboard.
Sony dropped their PC business shortly after this (in response to the
Windows 8
_fiasco_, perhaps?),
but the Vaio brand is back in business at this writing; see the web for info.
./2014 Frankenthon!.png.note====================================================
The artwork for a Python-changes page I started after the 5th
_Learning Python_ was released. See the current page
_here_
and the 2009 LP4E note
_here_ for more background.
To be clear, I've been one of Python's biggest proponents, still
use it constantly, and can't stomach the idea of programming in
other languages today. Most others seem based on the cynical
assumption that programmers don't know what they're doing—and
need to be hobbled with training wheels because of it.
By contrast, Python remains more ally than obstacle.
At the same time, Python has grown bloated, and its rapid morph
is seen as counterproductive by many. The changes page calls this
out in hopes of inspiring some discussion. I'm not a "hater" and
don't mean to pick on anyone personally, but we stakeholders need
to take a stand against the constant ego-driven churn now common
in Python and the field at large. Breaking others' programs for
the sake of personal whims is just plain rude.
./2014 Frigcal.png.note=========================================================
The next two screenshots show two of the Python programs I
started working on after the LP5E book project: a personal
calendar/journal GUI and a content sync/backup system.
This page's image captures
__Frigcal__
on Windows.
Both use tkinter for their GUIs; were ported to work on macOS,
Linux, and Windows (and later,
_Android_); and were shipped
as source code, macOS app, and Windows and Linux executables.
After decades of teaching the tools and techniques behind these,
it was nice to be able to apply them to something useful.
See this site's programs
_page_
for more links and info.
./2014 Mergeall.png.note========================================================
The _Mergeall_ content sync/backup system, available at this
_site_.
I initially wrote this because I was tired of waiting for
exhaustive PC-to-flashdrive copies to finish. It syncs content
quickly by doing incremental propagations using timestamps: only
changed items are ever updated. It eventually grew to accommodate
a host of interoperability issues and multiple use cases, and work
on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, in both command-line and
GUI modes (see _2019_
for the Android GUI).
Plus, it's open-source transparent, free to use and mod, and will
never root through your stuff without your permission—intangibles
that sharply differentiate it from most cloud-storage options.
This stuff matters today.
_
_2023 update_: also watch for the Android+PCs standalone app
_ahead_; it's Mergeall
with a Kivy GUI face-lift to work around USB and shared-storage
constraints in later Androids.
./2014 PyRef5E book.jpg.note====================================================
The 5th Edition of _Python Pocket Reference_. At 260 pages, it's
much more useful than its 80-page _genesis_,
and the "Pocket" still applies in the era of Pro, Max, and Ultra phones.
People with lots of language experience may be able to pick up Python
with this book alone, though that's not the audience that arose
with the explosion of tech. Both this and LP5E also cover the majority
of Python in common use today, but not the esoteric tweaks added since
2014, like type hints and coroutines; most code doesn't need to care.
./2015 Florida.JPG.note=========================================================
Now we're in 2015 after the 5th Edition books were wrapped
up, and a second training restart is afoot. This and the next
are from a class held at NASA's Kennedy Space
_Center_ in Florida,
for structural engineers.
./2015 Seattle.JPG.note=========================================================
The second of three classes in 2015, for a group of network admins
on the University of Washington campus in
_Seattle_. There were just
three classes this year; the last, sans photos, was in
_Vancouver_, Canada.
And that brings us to the end of the training thread of this gallery.
The world had changed while I wasn't watching, and I wound up
ending my training business next year in 2016—twenty years after
its unplanned and unsolicited start. For more on the move,
see the _The Plumage Don't Enter into It_ in
_
_Teaching_ Python__.
./2016 MacBook Pro.jpg.note=====================================================
_
The _MacBook_ Pro_:
a workstation-level PC that I switched to
after decades on _Windows_
for the software development that I was starting to do on a
pro-bono/hobby basis.
Windows was going down some dark paths at this point (including
mandatory updates, antivirus, and marketing), and the Macintosh
had all the tools that an old Unix developer craves. Well, that,
and draconian app-store
_
biases_,
rude _._*_
AppleDouble files on exFAT drives
and _.DS_Store_ files
_
everywhere_,
and enough proprietary nonsense and frequent change to keep it interesting.
Still, Unix coherence, a real Bash command line, and Office made macOS
a net win. Windows storage was too slow and its UI was nowhere near as
nice_—though it's adopted many of macOS's UI ideas since then; and
Linux didn't run Office and was too personality based_—one really
shouldn't have to rely on online gossip to use a computer.
_
_2024 Update_: Linux can also be used within Windows today thanks
to WSL2, and this nearly negates its lack of Office. At latest look,
though, WSL2's cross-platform storage access was still quite slow, and
its GUI support was still haphazard. See the vetting doc
_here_.
./2017 PyEdit.png.note==========================================================
The next three screenshots are from updates to some
Python/tkinter programs that originally appeared in
__Programming_ Python__.
Now that training and writing had wound down, I was
finally able to put some time into these and make them
more useful. In the process, they were also ported
to macOS (and Android later) and frozen into standalone
apps/executables. I use
__PyEdit__ and
__PyMailGUI__
as my go-to text editor and email client, respectively;
__PyGadgets__
is mostly just for fun, though its calculator sees regular
action too. You can find more free Python programs
_here_.
./2018 Books Amazon.png.note====================================================
The books on Amazon, in 2018.
Caveat: Amazon sales don't mean as much today as they once did,
given the rise of ebooks, online media, and a multitude of Python
resources, along with Amazon's mercurial policies.
It was once a bigger deal.
Around this time, these books'
_publisher_
was also morphing into an online-training company,
and its web presence grew more focused on subscriptions
than books. It still kept making books, though, and my
sales continued to be as strong as ever (thank you,
discriminating customers).
The publisher also sadly turned to sales of personal
information and customer access—one of the reasons that my
titles' current editions may be their last (but stay tuned
for 2025's surprise; readers matter too).
./2018 But More Hats.jpg.note===================================================
A scene from the tech-book publishing experience.
Also in this timeframe, my books'
_publisher_ started dropping the
ball on sales support. This included promotion of infringing titles
and competing products, runs on free and DRM-free ebooks,
months-long inventory outages, uncollected translation revenues,
and more. The publisher-follies page in _Teaching Python_'s 2015
_coverage_
dishes all the sordid details.
Many of these issues were corrected over time, but some fell on deaf ears,
and at least one was addressed by sending me more author hats in lieu of
resolution or compensation. Moreover, the company's focus shift from books
to online-media subscriptions, corporate training budgets,
and customer-info/access sales may be permanent. Content creators
and consumers should both care.
_
_2024 update_: the publisher-follies page was eventually dropped because
it grew dated and moot. This publisher is a different company today
and hardly accountable for the now-distant past. Although it's now almost
impossible to find anything about books at its customer-facing website,
it still quietly produces them in ebook, online, and print forms,
the latter of which is sold on
_Amazon_.
Per the updated sidebar in _Teaching Python_'s
_2015_,
AI is a new concern for authors, though this publisher's AI products may be
fairer to content producers than some, and the world will likely grow tired
of the domain's exaggerated claims soon.
./2018 Galaxy S8+.jpg.note======================================================
Thus began my foray into the Android world: the Galaxy
_S8+_,
which I picked up to test the mobile-friendly conversion of this page's
website (see the next three images).
I also experimented with Python programming on this device using
the apps available, but it was fairly horrifying for an open-source
Unix developer: proprietary tools and device lockdowns were
the norm (and still are, regrettably).
The S8+ also ran Android Nougat, which botched file modification times
so badly that sync tools like Mergeall were
_unusable_.
How in the world did it get away with that? I got an iPod for mobile testing
too, but nothing more in Apple's iWhatever realm; iOS is so closed that it's a
full non-starter for POSIX programs. More at 2019's
_Note_ 9_ and 2021's
_Fold_.
./2018 Web Gadgets.jpg.note=====================================================
Counterclockwise from the top: a MacBook, S8+, J7, and iPod_—now
museum-worthy all.
The portability of the web is stunning... as long as you're
willing to spend sizeable chunks of your life wrestling
with incompatible browser implementations of a fluid
standard, just to get pages to work similarly everywhere
until a browser update breaks them. Sans the installs,
this doesn't seem a whole lot better than traditional
GUI toolkits, does it?
./2018 Web Stew.png.note========================================================
A page from the _thumbspage_ image-gallery builder
used to create the gallery you're viewing.
I coded this Python (plus HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) program
originally in 2016 because I needed it for my website; browser
image views were too primitive and variable. Since then, it's
grown more sophisticated, with image scaling, slideshows,
touch swipes, keypresses, and notes like this, but it has
retained its basic static model for simplicity.
See thumbspage's
_web_ page_
and 2019's
_update_
for more info. This also was an excuse to play with JavaScript,
which is so much like Python that parts of it seem copied
(because they probably were).
./2019 Chinese LP5E.jpg.note====================================================
A Chinese translation of LP5E, some 7 years after
it was _written_.
./2019 Galaxy Note9.jpg.note====================================================
The Galaxy _Note_ 9_.
I moved to this after the
_S8+_ proved too limiting, and before a
Note 10+ (not pictured here) and other Android gadgets
(_ahead_).
The Note 9 ran Android Oreo (a.k.a. 8),
which finally fixed its modification timestamps, making
__Mergeall__
usable for on-phone content syncs. Mergeall first was ported for command-line
use in the Termux app, and its GUI later came online thanks to the
glitchy but impressive tkinter support in the Pydroid 3 app
(which later succumbed to Android morph: see the next note).
Both the script and GUI worked
_well_
on Android for content syncs by USB, on Oreo, Pie, and 10.
Regrettably, Android 11 would later lock POSIX programs out
of USB access and slow shared storage to a crawl, and Android 12
would sprout a draconian process killer which can break Python
programs in general (watch for the notes in 2021
_here_ and
_here_).
Android may be based on Linux, but
it's been gutted of most of the developer freedom.
To be fair, Android is still more open than iOS today—you
can sideload apps outside the store, and there is a real
filesystem—but it's gaining parity with each release.
Security kills fun (and enables evil).
./2019 PyAndroid 1.jpg.note=====================================================
The next three shots are assorted Python tkinter GUIs running
on Android, in the _Pydroid 3_ app:
__Frigcal__,
__Mergeall__,
and a _Programming Python_ book
_example_.
It's amazing to see desktop GUIs spring to life on a phone like
this, though they generally require a few code tweaks to get there,
don't support multiple windows very well, and must be run on a
freemium app that flashes obnoxious fullscreen ads unless you pay a
_fee_.
It's worth the modest fee, but the policy comes off as quite rude,
especially given that the app is largely a package of open-source code.
See this site's Tkinter-on-Android
_guide_
for more info.
In principle, tkinter could also be bundled into standalone apps,
but it's a very deep slog, and requires substantial Java—a punt for now.
_
_2023 updates_:
In 2023, Pydroid 3 temporarily lost utility when it adopted
Android 11+ scoped
_storage_.
Its tkinter still worked, but the code it ran could access only
Pydroid 3-specific folders, which made content sharing tedious.
This was eventually repaired but is something of a lesson about
pandering to vendor whims. Read more at this site's
_coverage_;
an Android casualty to be sure, but Play-store revenue seems a likely cohort.
Also in 2023, _PC-Phone USB Sync_ made the above concerns moot
by using Python, Kivy, and Buildozer to build a standalone app that avoids
Pydroid 3 dependence in full and runs on both Android and PCs from a common
code base. Stay tuned for the Android-thread wrap-up in
_2023_.
./2020 More Stew 1.jpg.note=====================================================
__thumbspage__
grew info popups, slideshows, and one-page fullscreen
this year, and touch swipes and notes in 2021 and 2022. But
you already know how the notes look, eh?
Its 3.0 release to come in 2025 will add keyboard shortcuts, embedded HTML tags in
notes, explicit ordering and captions, automatic handling of gallery wraparounds,
raw-view messages, swipe gestures on touchpads and mice too, and a provisional dark
mode. See its web page for later details; this gallery is thumbspage's initial and
primary use case and demos most of its tools.
./2020 More Stew 2.jpg.note=====================================================
One-page JavaScript fullscreen via the Full button, on Android Chrome.
This works as a sort of zoom, but desktop browsers, Opera on Android,
and even Safari on iOS have better fullscreen options that span multiple
pages. Hey Chrome: if you're going to dominate Android market share,
could we at least get something similar soon?
./2020 Ziptools.png.note========================================================
2020's standalone _ziptools_ is an enhanced-utility wrapper
around Python's standard zipfile module, which adds UTC timestamps,
symlink support, modtime propagation, and more; see its main
_web_ page_.
This also was born of necessity: content management
requires cross-platform zipfile tools that do the
right thing everywhere (even on Android).
./2021 Android 11.png.note======================================================
Tests showing the speed downgrade of shared storage in Android 11.
It's much worse than shown here for some operations: 100x slower
is not uncommon, and deletions are so slow that a phone reset
may be more practical for large folders.
This and the removal of USB access for POSIX programs (like Python)
make Android difficult to use for content sync tools (like Mergeall).
Along with Samsung's dropping of microSD cards for removable storage,
Android phones are becoming content islands on a par with iOS.
While vendor goals are unknown, cloud providers and content snoopers
seem the likely winners here (and users seem the likely losers).
This thread continues in Android 12 on the next image in this
gallery. See also this site's Mergeall-focused Android 11 updates
_page_
for the full story on these Android regressions.
_
_2021 update_: to work around 11's hurdles, a system of scripts was developed
later this year to apply content syncs indirectly using batched and zipped changes;
see
__Android Deltas Sync__.
This works well, though it's not GUI based, and it may require
additional steps on Android 12 (see the next shot).
_2023 update_: the prior update's scripts were eventually superseded by a
full standalone Android app that uses extra permissions to regain storage access
on Android—and also happens to work the same on PCs using the same Python code. See
__PC-Phone USB Sync__
and the next image's note for the sequel.
./2021 Android 12.png.note======================================================
More Android fun, one year on.
As captured here on a Pixel 4a, Android 12 has the same speed
and access issues as Android 11. That's not exactly surprising,
but 12 also adds a "phantom" process killer which culls child processes
at arbitrary points after a cross-phone limit of 32 has been reached.
While the risk varies per usage (and my phones have never had a kill),
this can break apps like Termux and the Python scripts they run,
and it may impact millions of users. More info
_here_.
Luckily, adb commands in 12 and 12L along with a new Developer setting
to appear in 13 can work around this. But the process killer was
rudely added in 12 with no notice whatsoever, and a work-around is
not the same as a reversal. It almost seems like Android no longer
cares about "power" users, but only for naive and sadly gullible
content consumers who are perfectly happy to carry around toyish
phones that double as data vacuums and billboards. Go figure...
See the
_web_
for more background. This hopefully isn't the death knell for Python on Android,
though it is a precarious platform. iOS is closed too, but at least it's
honest about it.
_
_2024 updates_: as later demoed by
_this_ Python-coded
app, shared storage and USB drives _can_ still be accessed with POSIX
file tools on Android by obtaining its All Files Access
_permission_.
This requires extra proprietary code and may keep some apps off the Play
store, but it's a one-time step. Full apps can also sidestep process kills
with Android API calls that manage services.
As of Android 15, however, storage accessed this way remains as slow as
noted here. This reflects Android 11's
_FUSE_
choices as well as the extra code layers it uses to limit access (e.g., the
_SAF_).
Four years on, the
sloth of these remains unchecked, and Android's performance profile
favors a closed sandbox model that severs the cross-app dataflow at
the heart of content
_creation_.
On the upside, some phones finally have a
switch in Developer options to disable the child-process limit. While
welcome, this toggle's obscurity also reflects the low esteem in which Android
holds its users. Sacrificing functionality and performance in the name of
an arguably dubious "safety" leaves us with phones that are useless for
all but the trivial and mundane. Some of us still care.
./2021 Note20 Fold3.jpg.note====================================================
More gadget fun: the Galaxy Z
_Fold3_
(right) next to a Galaxy
_Note20_ Ultra.
The 6.9" Note20 was rolled back to Android 10 after 11 took away USB
_access_,
and so it shall remain until its battery gives up the ghost.
The 7.6" Fold3 shipped with Android 11 initially but auto-updated
to 12 a few months later, so it's been a test machine for both.
From a hardware perspective, the Fold is enough to excite even the most
jaded of gadget geeks: it unfolds from phone to mini tablet, and the
seam at the fold is hardly noticeable with actual use.
When unfolded, the Fold3 is _almost_ a PC stand-in, especially
with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and screen casting or Dex; and
_nearly_ replaces what was lost when the OQO died (see
_2006_ and
_2008_).
Now if it would only get a real Excel with VBA, and an Android that stops
locking down devices for whatever point-of-control agendas Google may want to
_push_.
Cynical, perhaps, but it's tough to watch yet
another system being pushed into the might-have-been column by
corporate greed and/or dysfunction. Of course, there's always
the Fold4...
(See also the Fold5 photo
_ahead_; the gadget show goes on.)
./2022 Bookstore.jpg.note=======================================================
Seen at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in summer 2022.
Still warping the shelves after 26 years.
./2023 Sync App.jpg.note========================================================
2023's _PC-Phone_ USB_ Sync_ app, running on an Android-13
_Fold5_.
This portable content backup/sync program runs on Android phones and
_tablets_,
as well as Windows, macOS, and Linux
_PCs_.
It can be used to both backup folders and sync them
between a mix of devices. By using USB drives for
propagating changes, it avoids the slowness and privacy
issues inherent in clouds.
This app is the culmination of a five-year content-processing
odyssey on Android and a decade-long sync saga in general.
It's largely the open-source
__Mergeall__
system under the hood, with a new portable UI coded in
_Kivy_
to support the Android app. Products are built using
_Buildozer_
for Android and
_PyInstaller_
for PCs.
On Android, it uses permissions available to standalone
apps to regain access to USB drives and shared storage lost
in Android 11. On all platforms, it's coded entirely in
portable
_Python_,
and uses traditional POSIX file-path tools to process
content—despite Android's self-defeating efforts to deprecate
all such interoperable
_things_.
The Android app was initially paid, partly to fund visibility
on the payola that is Play, and partly because free generally
implies ad farms or junk on that platform. The PC apps/executables
are free, and there's a free trial Android app for test-drives.
Visit the app's
_website_
for screenshots, videos, free downloads, and the full story,
and keep your digital property safe from the many dark agendas out there.
_
_2024 update_: this app was eventually made free on Android, too,
per the "Why Free?" button in the news post on
_quixotely.com_.
Please enjoy the app on all your devices, and help spread the
word that storing personal digital property on clouds
is inherently perilous and needlessly slow.
./You are here.png.note=========================================================
So there you have it: some images and anecdotes
from my tenure as a Python trainer, writer, and developer.
I'm writing most of these image notes in 2022, partly as a demo
for a new gallery-builder feature (see
__thumbspage__)
but also to provide more of the backstory. Mine was just one
computer-science career, of course, but it played
out, as the saying goes, in interesting times.
In the end, Python was a crusade for me, and I had an exciting
quarter-century ride for which I'll always be grateful.
But I'm largely retired today, and the Python advocacy and education
banners must be picked up by others. If that includes you, I wish
you all the best, and hope that some of the perspectives I've shared
from my journey may prove useful to you on yours.
See _
_Teaching Python__ for more tales from the Python road.
And as always, code well.
./…2025 LP6E Book.jpg.note======================================================
But wait, there's an encore...
In 2024, I came out of "retirement" (which never really took with me)
to update my most successful book, _Learning Python_, for the
last decade of changes in the Python programming language. This 6th Edition
will be out in early 2025, but you can read about it now
_here_.
TL;DR_—it's slimmer, more gender neutral, and Python-3.X only, and
two advanced chapters have moved online for print because this internet
thing might just take off after all. It's also not silent about questionable
changes made to Python over the last decade; this stuff still
_matters_.
Despite its three-decade
_lineage_,
this book is being released to a virtually new publisher, audience, and world,
and I'm excited to be able to help the next wave of Python learners.
I'd call this a surprise ending, but endings seem about as elusive as
retirements to those easily bored.
