Please Note
I no longer maintain this page. Its content is very out of date,
and was retained here only because it contains a bit of Python history.
For up-to-date information on my Python books or Python training
classes, please see my
books page and its
recent highlights.
For more Python history, see also the what's old and
old advocacy pages here. The first of these
dates back to the time when I first opened this website, 1996, though I was
active in the Python world earlier. One can probably find Python
posts
from my various email addresses from as early as 1993, predating both the
comp.lang.python newsgroup and this website (and when installing Python could
still mean fetching multiple emails, concatenating, uudecoding, and hoping it
all worked).
Update, February 2014: This site recently underwent a mass purge
of dated files (using tools posted here),
so don't be alarmed if some of the links on this page go nowhere today. This site
opened in 1996 and had accumulated substantial cruft in its first 18 years, but
I've retained this page's text content for whatever historical value it may hold.
|
What's (not) New?
This page lists most of my recent Python-related activities. I
use it as a place to announce things that may be of interest to the
Python community, and/or major changes to my website.
Current news items
Older news items
- (10/05) 2006 public Python class schedule
- (03/05) Python bootcamp week, Atlanta, October '05
- (02/05) LP2E book updates
- (10/04) Python bootcamp week, Atlanta, February '05
- (10/04) 2005 public Python class schedule
- (08/04) Zope and Plone training now available
- (06/04) Assorted site updates
- (02/04) Python article published by O'Reilly
- (12/03) Learning Python 2nd Ed published
- (12/03) 2004 public Python class schedule
- (10/03) New Zaurus PDA
- (09/03) PP2E book updates
- (07/03) Public Python class in Colorado, Oct 7-9
- (06/03) Learning Python 2nd Ed project update
- (01/03) Tkinter vs wxPython talk material
- (11/02) New Sony machines
- (11/02) Book translations, page updates
- (10/02) Public Python class in Colorado, Oct 28-30
- (02/02) Python conference report, new books list
- (01/02) Public Python class in Colorado, Feb 13-15
- (11/01) Python Pocket Reference 2nd Ed published
- (09/01) Colorado Python class, Oct 22-24
- (08/01) In memory of Frank Willison
- (07/01) 3 SPC Python seminars in October
- (05/01) Assorted page updates
- (03/01) Programming Python 2nd Ed published
- (02/01) O'Reilly's new Python page
- (02/01) Upcoming Kaivo Python classes in Denver
- (01/01) Upcoming Python seminar in Vancouver
- (01/01) PP2E beta chapter online
- (11/00) PP2E status update, LP Japanese translation
- (05/00) Web demos preview, Programming Python 2E
- (02/00) Learning Python translations, site updates
- (01/00) Japanese translation of Python Pocket Reference
Even older news items
Still older news items
[Update 10/06]: An updated version of the examples distribution package is now at
http://examples.oreilly.com/python3/.
For changes made, see this page.
[Update 09/06]: The book examples distribution package is now available at
http://examples.oreilly.com/python3/.
I've also begun to log book updates at this page.
The 3rd Edition of the book Programming Python was published in August 2006.
This is a fully updated, reorganized, and expanded verison of the 2nd Edition, with new
coverage of application programming topics such as databases, Internet scripting, and GUIs.
See O'Reilly's description, or
my page for more details, updates, and the book examples
distribution package.
Our Fall 2006 Colorado Python seminar is now open to enrollments. This
year, our seminar will be a 5-day training event, held at Crag's Lodge,
in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. It will be an all-inclusive event:
come to master Python, and we'll provide lodging, meals, airport shuttle,
and more. For more details, see
http://home.earthlink.net/~python-training/public.html [defunct].
My Python training company has a newly redesigned website, at
http://home.earthlink.net/~python-training
[now here].
I just gave another online interview about Python, available at
pythonthreads.com.
The schedule of 2006 public Python classes to be held in Colorado has
been posted on
this page, and in the
announcements section of
this page. In short, I will once again be holding
3 public classes in Colorado in 2006, in February, June, and October. These
classes are open to individual enrollments, and cover the same topics as the
3 day on-site classes I teach. The details of these sessions are the same as
in 2005 and earlier years.
I'm going to be teaching a second week-long Python seminar for Big Nerd Ranch
outside Atlanta, in October 2005. This is a public event open to individuals.
For more details, please see the announcements section of
this page.
I've posted a new book updates page for the book
Learning Python 2nd Edition, at
this page. It lists
recent Python changes, as well as author notes.
I'm going to be teaching a week-long Python seminar for Big Nerd Ranch outside
Atlanta, in February 2005. This is a public event open to individuals. For
more details, please see the announcements section of
this page.
I've posted the schedule of 2005 public Python classes to be held
in Colorado, on
this page, and in the
announcements section of
this page. I will once again be holding 3
public classes in Colorado in 2005, in January, June, and October. Each
session will cover the same topics and lab work as the on-site classes I
teach, but these public sessions are open to individual enrollments.
As of August 2004, I am now able to provide an extra day of training on
the Zope and Plone Python-based web development systems. This training is
an optional addition to the standard Python classes that I teach. For more
details, as well as a session outline, please see the announcements section on
my training page.
A new discussion of the Tkinter mainloop, event-driven programs,
and socket connections was added near the top of
this page.
I've also simplified the on-site Python classes pricing model, described on
this page.
O'Reilly published an article I wrote titled "When Pythons attack", on their
ONLamp website. It's available
at this page.
The article is a summary of common mistakes made by Python programmers
gleaned in part from the new book Learning Python 2nd Edition,
but mostly derived from my experiences teaching Python beginners.
[Update:
This book started shipping as of the last week of December 2003, and is
now available. It hit #1 on the computer books list at bn.com in January.]
According to O'Reilly, this book is scheduled to begin shipping around
December 25, 2003. Per the
prior note,
this new edition has been substantially updated and
expanded for changes in both Python, and Python training presentations.
For more details, see either
my page, or
O'Reilly's page.
The latter of these includes the new OOP introduction as a sample chapter.
I've posted the schedule of 2004 public Python classes to be held
in Colorado, on
this page, and in the
announcements section of
this page. I will be holding 3 public
classes in Colorado this year, in January, June, and October. Each will
cover the same topics and lab work as the on-site classes I teach, but these
public sessions are open to individual enrollments.
My latest best machine ever: a Zaurus C760 Linux-based
PDA, wth full VGA screen and keyboard, described briefly
at this page. It's reallly a
general-purpose computer, that has the instant-on,
battery life, and portability of a PDA, and the
multitasking, file system, and command-line of a
laptop. It easily manages to make PalmOS seem a
bit limiting.
In response to user queries, I've posted a summary of recent
Python language changes which impact the examples in the book
Programming Python 2nd Edition, near the top of
this page.
I will be holding another Python training
session in Longmont, Colorado, on October 7-9, 2003.
This will be a public class open to individual enrollments,
and will cover the same topics and lab work as the standard
3-day onsite sessions that I teach. Please see
this web page
or contact me for additional details and registration information. My
general training page describes the class
itself in more detail.
I've been getting alot of personal emails asking about this lately:
Yes, a 2nd Edition of the book
Learning Python
is in the works. I submitted a full draft of the new Part I (core
language topics) on January 9th, and finished a final draft on June 9th.
This new edition will cover all the new features of the Python language added
in the last 4 years--list comprehensions, nested scopes, new style classes,
generators, and so on. It will also cover new topics and examples presented
in Python classes I teach. As a result of all the new coverage, it will likely
grow by 150 to 200 pages, and be a more complete guide to the Python language.
Despite the new material, it retains most of the 1st Edition's scope and
flavor, and is still designed to be a first book on Python for both new and
experienced programmers. We're expecting the final draft to go to production
in September, which means it should be released in late 2003 (December).
I've started a new page for this book
here, though for now it mostly just says
what this note says.
Awhile back, I taught a tutorial that compared and contrasted the two
leading GUI toolkits for Python programming: Tkinter (the most popular
and widely used, and the de facto standard), and wxPython (probably
the second most popular, with a rich widget set). Because GUI toolkits are a
heated topic for some people, I meant to turn this talk's material into an
article. Unfortunately, Python training and books have kept me too busy,
and I wound up passing the raw material to a few dozen people upon request.
To save time, and because this may be of general interest, I'm posting the
tutorial's material: click here to fetch.
Note that this is a Word doc file, which may or may not page nicely for you.
Also note that this is mostly bullets and basic examples without words, but
might help if you're on the fence about Python GUI toolkits. Finally
note that I may yank this for space in the future (it's about 500K); if
it's not accessible at the link above, email me directly if you want a copy.
[Update: this is now a tar/gzip file, to save space; use winzip or
similar to unpack.]
Yes, it is possible to love a machine--the U1, an incredibly interesting
new computer I just picked up by import from Japan, described on
this page. Also new here: a page describing
my latest PDA, here; I'm not quite sure what to
call this device, but "Palm Pilot" would clearly be an insult.
I will be holding another Python training
session in Longmont, Colorado, on October 28-30, 2002.
This will be a public class open to individual enrollments,
and will cover the same topics and lab work as the standard
3-day onsite sessions that I teach. Please see
this web page
or contact me for additional details and registration information. My
general training page describes the class
itself in more detail.
[Update, 8/21/03:
I just posted a new summary of language changes impacting the 2nd Edition
of Programming Python,
this page.]
[Update, 11/22: I've
just received a copy of the hardcover Russian language translation of
Programming Python, 2nd Edition; see this page
for details.]
[Update, 11/02: I've
just received a new German translation of Python Pocket Reference
2nd Edition; see O'Reilly's International page.]
In recent weeks, I've received copies of both a Dutch language edition
of Programming Python 2nd Edition, and a Polish language edition
of Learning Python. I also stumbled onto the Chinese translation
of Learning Python on-line.
See the links on
this page for more on the Dutch translation
of Programming Python 2nd Ed,
and see this page
for Learning Python translations.
O'Reilly's International page
has more details on Python book translations.
By my count, Learning Python
is available in 7 or more languages now.
Also new here: photos from a 2-week Python training trip I made
to Barcelona, Spain in May 2002--see the fourth bullet on
this page.
I did an IPC10 Python conference dispatch for O'Reilly, available
here.
Inspired by the huge table of Python books at IPC10, I also updated the
Python books list I try to maintain here. We're
at well over 30 books now, and counting.
I will be holding another Python training
session in Longmont, Colorado, on February 13-15, 2002.
This will be a public class open to individual enrollments,
and will cover the same topics and lab work as the standard
3-day onsite sessions that I teach. Please see
this web page
or contact me for additional details and registration information. My
general training page describes the class
itself in more detail.
![[book ad]](pythonpr2.gif)
A second edition of the book
Python Pocket Reference is now
available. It was published by O'Reilly in early November 2001.
This edition is 128 pages (roughly the size of a palm pilot), has
been fully updated for Python 2.2, and has been expanded with new
material on GUI and Internet tools, the Python/C API, and so on.
It also includes code examples for recently added language
features such as nested scopes and list comprehensions. Please see
O'Reilly's page
for more details. For 1st Edition information, see
this page.
|
[Note: this class was originally scheduled for Sep 17-19,
but was postponed due to recent events in the East coast.]
Due to demand, I will be holding another Python class
session in Longmont, Colorado, on October 22-24 2001.
This will be a public class open to individual enrollments,
and will cover the same topics as the 3-day onsite sessions that I
teach. Please see this web page
or contact me for additional details and registration information. My
general training page describes the class
itself in more detail.
A page dedicated to the memory of
Frank Willison:
mentor, friend, and original editor of all my Python books. His influences
on the Python world and my own life have been too profound for words. I
will miss him anew each time I am tempted to misuse the word "only."
Hack on, Frank.
In October, I will be teaching 3 Python seminars hosted by Software
Productivity Center:
- October 11-12, Seattle, Washington
- October 16-17, Vancouver, Canada
- October 25-26, Washington, DC
These are 2-day public seminars open to individual enrollments.
Each will cover a large subset of my 3 day on-site class materials.
For more details, please see the announcements section at
this page, or visit SPC's web pages
here and
here.
- Updated the Python books page for new
releases; 15 English books and counting.
- Expanded the web resources
listed on the Python language page
and updated the overview.
- Added notes to the
PP2E book updates page.
- The
calendar page lists upcoming training
dates; in between, I'm updating two more O'Reilly Python books.
- The announcements on this page list
two new Kaivo Denver Python class sessions (June, August).
- Also see
the new celebrity link near the bottom of this page
(far too bizarre for me to have made up :-).
![[book ad]](pp2e-small.jpg)
The 2nd edition of the book Programming Python is now
shipping. O'Reilly released it in the first week of March 2001.
(I saw it first at a book signing at the 9th International Python Conference
in Long Beach). This is a virtually new 1250-page book, that
focuses on advanced applications of Python. Its major parts
deal with Internet scripting, GUI programming, system interfaces,
C integration, and text and database processing.
For more details, please see either
O'Reilly's page, or
my overview page. O'Reilly's page
includes a sample chapter, as well as the book's table of contents
and index. My overview page also has a temporary updates page,
where I've begun collecting notes about both the book and Python.
Check out the new Python page maintained by O'Reilly,
at http://python.oreilly.com.
An article about Python use at Disney was to appear there soon as
I wrote this note. While you're there, be sure to also see the
Python DevCenter
on the O'Reilly Network for Python articles and resources.
New: See the Kaivo press release.
I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching a number of Python class
sessions for Kaivo in 2001.
The first session is scheduled to be held in Denver, Colorado, on
February 21-23 (additional sessions in June and August have been scheduled
as well). These will be 3 day hands-on class sessions, and will cover
the same topics as my onsite classes, but are open to individual enrollments.
In addition, these Kaivo sessions are being scheduled to coincide with Kaivo
training on related technologies, such as the
Zope web application framework.
Kaivo will be handling all registration details related to these
sessions. Please see their website at
www.kaivo.com for more details and future
session schedules. For general class information, consult my
training page.
Kaivo also provides training on other open source technologies such as
Zope, and the
Jabber messaging system, and offers
classes in various locations. If you cannot attend a Kaivo session, I still
arrange onsite Python classes as well; see my training page for details.
On February 26-27, I will be delivering a 2-day Python seminar in
Vancouver, for Software Productivity Center. This is a public seminar,
and is open to individual enrollments. It will cover a subset of my
usual 3-day class sessions' material. For more details, please see:
www.spc.ca/training.
An additional seminar may be scheduled for Fall 2001.
O'Reilly has posted a beta chapter from the upcoming book
Programming Python Second Edition. You can read the
beta chapter, "Advanced Internet Topics", at
this site. This book is currently scheduled for release
in March 2001. General information about the book itself is
available at both
this page, and this page.
The 2nd Edition of Programming Python, a virtually new book, is in the production
pipeline; read all about it here. A new
Japanese translation of the book Learning Python is also available;
click here for details.
You can test drive very preliminary versions of some of the
browser-based Internet examples to appear in the upcoming 2nd Edition
of the book Programming Python, at
this page.
Please note that these are prone to change, and there are many other new
Internet-related examples not shown on this page (this page's examples come
from 2 of 5 new Internet chapters).
Also note that the 2nd edition is going to
be an almost completely new book, and won't be published until early 2001;
click here for more details. I may post the update's
preface at this site, as soon as I decide to stop changing it.
![[book ad]](lpython_sm_ad.gif)
German and French language translations of the book
Learning Python have been
published. See this page for
more details.
|
| Unrelated site updates:
| | See
the Python advocacy page and
books page for recent additions
| | See the bottom of this page for all-new
pictures from the Python training road and such
| | This site is also in the process of moving to new servers;
see the note at the bottom of this page
|
|
A Japanese language version of the book
Python Pocket Reference has been
published. See this page for
more details and a peek at the cover.
![[Training CD]](newcd-small1.jpg)
See the announcements section of my
Python training page for
a number of new developments.
Besides on-site classes, I will be teaching my course at
Tom Christiansen's site in Boulder in 2000. See
this new page for details about
the Boulder class sessions.
In addition, all class material is now available in HTML form, packaged
on a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM may eventually replace the paper hardcopy
plus source-code disk distribution. Beginning in November, I will
provide a copy of the CD to each student of my class, along with other
materials. Also see the online sample.
(Sorry, but as of July 2000, I no longer sell this CD outside the class,
due to unexpected high demand.)
We're on the brink of an explosion in the number of commercial
Python publications available! I've posted a list of the ones
that I know about, at this page.
Given how often new books are being announced lately, I doubt
I will keep that page up to date; but I've been telling people
that there are at least 10 new Python books on the way for
some time now, and decided that a formal list was in order.
In response to reader requests, O'Reilly recently
posted an index for the
Python Pocket Reference,
at this page:
http://www.ora.com/catalog/pythonpr/
(click on the "Index" link on the lower left side).
They're either going to sneak it in to the next printing,
or hold onto it for the 2nd edition. For now, you can
download and print what's on the page above.
Assorted changes to this site: two new support pages for the
book Learning Python, and more.
- Fetch source-code for all Learning Python examples and
exercise solutions from this page
- Get a list of Learning Python book updates and corrections
(errata) from this page
- Updated
the photos on this page (I finally
got a decent scanner ;-)
- Posted various book translation cover shots to
this page, and
this page
![[book cover]](python_woodrat.gif)
Learning Python, the first major Python book to hit
the shelves since 1996, has been published by O'Reilly. It
began shipping the first week of April 1999. Learning Python
is a beginners-level text, but also includes a look at more advanced
Python applications such as JPython, CGI, COM, and Tkinter; I am its
co-author, along with David Ascher. For more details, see either
O'Reilly's site, or
my description page.
O'Reilly will be hosting a Python conference in Monterey, California,
in August 1999. It will be part of their joint Open Source Conferences.
For more details, see
the
conference page.
A few new links at the advocacy page
I maintain on this site. That page isn't kept very up to date, but
the new entries are exciting enough to warrant a reference here.
![[book cover]](ppr-small.gif)
The Python Pocket Reference is now shipping from O'Reilly.
The official publication date is October 1998; I first saw a copy in
the first week of November. It can be ordered from O'Reilly, and
other sources (including www.python.org). O'Reilly also plans to hand
out free copies at the Python conference in November.
The pocket reference is a short, quick-reference book, which
summarizes the Python language, and its most important built-in tools.
It's designed to be a companion to both Programming Python, and
Learning Python (upcoming). For more details, see
my description, or visit
O'Reilly's page.
There will be a 7 page Python overview article in the January 1998
issue of the magazine ;login: (the
USENIX organization's journal).
The article is titled "Using Python", and is an excerpt from the first
part of the Python chapter I wrote for Macmillan's
Handbook of Programming Languages.
(This issue was originally scheduled to ship in November, but has been
rescheduled for January.)
![[python]](python_snake_ora.gif)
Please see this new page I maintain
at this site, dedicated to the translation. Below are the original
announcements posted to this "whatsnew" page.
Update, 8/24/98
Volume 2 of the Japanese translation has been
released. See O'Reilly Japan's
description page
(another Japanese language page) for details, and a look at the second
volume's cover.
Update, 3/98
The book "Programming Python" has been translated to Japanese,
and the first volume is now available from O'Reilly Japan. See
their description
(a Japanese language page) for more details, including a peek at the cover.
The Japanese language edition is being published as a two volume set.
Volume 1 is titled "Introduction to Python". Volume 2 will be titled
"Programming Python", and is due to be released sometime this summer.
The last I heard, volume 1 of the translation had reached #5 on the
computer books best-sellers list the week after it was released.
For more details on the original text, see
O'Reilly's site.
For general information about O'Reilly Japan, see
this page.
Update 8/8/98: The Handbook described below has been published
(I saw a copy at Computer Literacy's online bookstore in the first week
of August). For more details, click here.
I've written a new 120-page introductory chapter on Python,
which appears in the "Handbook of Programming Languages",
Volume III, published by Macmillan in Summer 1998 (ISBN
number 1-57870-010-8). This volume also includes
introductions to Perl and Tcl.
The chapter is titled "Python: an Object Oriented Scripting
Language", and introduces the language itself, as well as
common extending and embedding techniques. There are also a few
larger examples on shell tools, GUIs, and so on.
In response to reader demand, I've written a page that describes the
major changes in Python and its libraries since the first edition of
Programming Python was first published (October 1996). See the
recent Python changes page.
Most recent Python changes are minor, backward compatible, and optional,
and beginners would do well to learn the core concepts in the book first.
But consider the changes page to be a new appendix to the book, until a
second edition happens.
As a preview, I've posted table-of-contents pages for the
Python Pocket Reference, as well as
Learning Python. O'Reilly also has
started a catalog page for the
Python Pocket Reference.
![[book ad]](ppython_sm_ad.gif)
To make book updates easier to find, the original "errata" page for the book
Programming Python has been split into subpages for genuine book
corrections, supplemental material and examples, recent changes in Python
(new), and program patch files. See the new updates
page.
I reorganized the top-level structure of this site to make it easier to
find information about the four Python publications I authored or co-authored
(three of which are due out in the next few months).
See the links at my homepage for more details.
As announced at IPC6,
David Ascher
and I have started working on
a new Python book for O'Reilly, to be called "Learning Python".
It's going to be a short book for beginners, organized by language
features, and largely based on Python training course material. We
hope to have it out in the late 1998 or early 1999 timeframe, but
please watch for official announcements
before calling O'Reilly.
So why another book? As of this writing, there are already tens
of thousands of Python users around the world, thanks in large
part to "Programming Python", and the other current Python books.
But there are many kinds of potential readers out there. "Learning
Python" will be aimed towards people without much prior programming
experience, and others who just want a quick first look at the core
language. (If you want a preview, imagine the "Programming Python"
tutorial appendix, on steroids).
Because of this focus, I hope that "Learning Python" will
introduce new audiences to Python, and help increase the Python user
base in the process. "Programming Python" has already been more
successful than I anticipated, and I hope that most "Learning Python"
readers will eventually go on to gain a deeper and more complete understanding
from "Programming Python". But Python deserves as broad an exposure as
it can get. In fact, the more books we have, the better (nudge, nudge :-).
Update: Please see this page for
information on classes in Boulder in the year 2000 and beyond.
I will be teaching my Python course 3 or 4 times in 1998, at a training
site in Boulder, Colorado. Come spend 3 days learning about an exciting
object-oriented scripting language, and get in some world class skiing or
hiking while you're here ;-).
These sessions will be hosted by XOR Technical Training, and are
open to individuals on a per-student fee basis. They include the
same topics and hands-on lab work as my on-site course. Registration
is now open; naturally, space is limited, so please register as early
as possible. Here are the course dates we have set so far:
- Jan 21-23, 1998
- May 11-13, 1998
- Sep 14-16, 1998
More dates may be added later if there is enough demand, so check
back if you don't see one that works for you. For more information on
registering for these courses, and the company hosting these sessions,
see
http://www.xor.com.
For more details on the course itself, see
this page.
This course is also offered on-site, at your company or organization.
Python seems to be popping up everywhere these days. To keep track of
some of the most recent activity, I've started a (very) rudimentary
advocacy page: click here to go to the
advocacy page. It's a sampling of some of the good news flowing
out of the Python public-relations department lately.
Disclaimer: This is a work-in-progress, so be sure to also
see Python's web page for
additional advocacy-type links.
I had the pleasure of teaching a half-day tutorial on Python/C integration
at the 6th International Python Conference (IPC6) in San Jose, on October
14th. Many of the examples from that tutorial are available on-line, in
either my supplemental
examples page, or in the supplements section of the
"Programming Python"
errata page. Please contact me if you'd like
to see something else.
Reorganized the "Programming Python"
errata list by page numbers, per requests
from readers. Also added new supplemental material at the end of the
page, including a few new Python/C integration examples which were
used in my IPC6 (Python conference) tutorial.
Updated Python training course description:
click here. The description has been
modified to reflect feedback I've gotten from teaching the course
to recent clients.
I've made available a new online Python overview:
click here to browse the HTML version
of material from an introductory Python talk I gave recently.
It's very sketchy, but has a few Python code samples.
Old news items have been moved off to a separate page:
please click here.
This information has been moved to a new
page; please click here to view
this information.
![[Home page]](PythonPowered.gif "Home page"){kind=small}