What can I do with Python ??

[BOOGIEMAN]

Beginners question, but really what can you do with it ?
How hard is Python to learn compared with other languages
(let's say C#). Can you make fullscreen game with it (for example) ?
I've looked at http://www.python.org but nothing concrete there

[Mark Nenadov]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

What can you do with Python? Just about anything your heart desires.

How hard is Python to learn? I'd say it is near the top of the barrel when
it comes to being easy to learn. I'd certainly say that for the most part,
you will learn Python much faster than you would learn C#.

Can you make a full-screen game with it? Yes, most certainly--providing
you have the skill/knowledge to program a full-screen game. But then again
that is rarely a matter of having the right programming language, but
rather a matter of having the right libraries.

--
~Mark Nenadov

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 21:57:32 +0100, BOOGIEMAN wrote:
[color=blue]
> Beginners question, but really what can you do with it ?
> How hard is Python to learn compared with other languages
> (let's say C#). Can you make fullscreen game with it (for example) ?
> I've looked at http://www.python.org but nothing concrete there[/color]

[Reinhold Birkenfeld]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

BOOGIEMAN wrote:[color=blue]
> Beginners question, but really what can you do with it ?
> How hard is Python to learn compared with other languages
> (let's say C#). Can you make fullscreen game with it (for example) ?
> I've looked at http://www.python.org but nothing concrete there[/color]

For fullscreen games, see PyGame (www.pygame.org). BTW, I don't know of
a way to write fullscreen games in C#...

Reinhold

[Alex Martelli]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

BOOGIEMAN <BOOGIEMANPN@YA HOO.COM> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Beginners question, but really what can you do with it ?[/color]

You can write application programs, big or small, of just about any kind
you may imagine, on just about any platform you may imagine (from
mainframes and supercomputers down to powerful cellphones such as
Nokia's S-60 series).
[color=blue]
> How hard is Python to learn compared with other languages
> (let's say C#).[/color]

Python is among the simplest languages to learn.
[color=blue]
> Can you make fullscreen game with it (for example) ?[/color]

Sure! Have you thought of using google? The first 2 hits for
python games
are on www.pygame.org, "This allows you to create fully featured games
and multimedia programs in the python language", as the google snippet
says. The third hit is for the book "Game Programming With Python" on
the amazon site. The 4th one is about Month Python, but the fifth is
back to our subject -- a "Python Game Programming" page full of useful
links. Then you get another link to the same book, a link to a
different book, &c.
[color=blue]
> I've looked at http://www.python.org but nothing concrete there[/color]

You _gotta_ be kidding, right...? The Beginner's Guide link takes you
right to the BeginnersGuide page which starts with the reassurance that
Python is easy to learn even if you're new to programming and continues
with a zillion useful links. The Python Books link takes you to a huge
list of books, and the FIRST subheading under "specific applications" is
for game programming, leading you to the two books I already mentioned.
There's a Search bar, enter Game there, and the FIRST hit is
http://www.python.org/moin/GameProgramming which STARTS with the
reassurance that, yes, you CAN "write whole games in Python", and
besides PyGame also points you to PyKira, "a fast game development
framework for Python" (which) "also supports MPEG video, sound (MP3, Ogg
Vorbis, Wav and Multichannel module files), direct images reading and
much more". Etc, etc, ...!!!

How much more "concrete" could you expect *ANY* blessed website to BE,
for Pete's sake?!??!


Alex

[Alan Gauld]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 21:57:32 +0100, BOOGIEMAN <[color=blue]
> (let's say C#). Can you make fullscreen game with it (for example) ?[/color]

<RANT>
You can but please don't! Make your game run fast in a window.
I hate fascist games programmers who insist on monopolising a 21
inch 1600x1200 display and assuming I have nothing better to do
than play their game. If that's all I wanted to do I'd stick with
DOS, or buy a Nintendo... I have a multi tasking PC please let me
multi task!
</RANT>

;-)

Alan G.

Author of the Learn to Program website

http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld

[Brian Beck]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Alex Martelli wrote:[color=blue]
> You _gotta_ be kidding, right...? The Beginner's Guide link takes you
> right to the BeginnersGuide page which starts with the reassurance that
> Python is easy to learn even if you're new to programming and continues
> with a zillion useful links. The Python Books link takes you to a huge[/color]

While I agree that there is much useful content on the official Python
site, I particularly hate the BeginnersGuide and much of the resulting
introduction pages. Often when I happily refer Python to someone who
wants to learn a simple language, I go to the Python site and imagine
where I would start if I were them. Once I get to the BeginnersGuide I
don't see anything immediately useful, and when I look for it I get
frustrated.

--
Brian Beck
Adventurer of the First Order

[BOOGIEMAN]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:03:08 -0500, Mark Nenadov wrote:
[color=blue]
> What can you do with Python? Just about anything your heart desires.[/color]

Thanks everybody, I downloaded latest windows version and
Python-Docs-2.4 archive. Is that enough for absolute beginner.
Is there any e-book, step by step guide ... etc for download,
or anything else important what I have to know before I start
learning Python ?

[Doug Holton]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

BOOGIEMAN wrote:[color=blue]
> Thanks everybody, I downloaded latest windows version and
> Python-Docs-2.4 archive. Is that enough for absolute beginner.
> Is there any e-book, step by step guide ... etc for download,
> or anything else important what I have to know before I start
> learning Python ?[/color]

The main thing I would do is subscribe to the python-tutor list. It is
the best place by far to ask any questions when you are learning to use
python: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor

Second, here are some of the best tutorials specifically designed for
people with little or no previous programming experience:

http://www.honors.montana.edu/~jjc/easytut/easytut/

http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld/

http://www.dickbaldwin.com/tocpyth.htm

http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/pyBiblio/

And lastly, really a great way to learn is to look at what's already out
there in python. Try out some of the many 3rd party libraries and
programs for python:
For games: http://pygame.org/
For GUI applications: http://www.wxpython.org/
and others: http://www.python.org/pypi

[LutherRevisited]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Speaking of the many libraries people have written I thought I'd mention
pychess. Don't remember where I found it, but it's easy enough to find on a
search engine. That's the whole reason I discovered python, searching for a
good algorithm to use in parsing chess pgn files.

[Casey Hawthorne]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Aren't games using full screen mode to address only 320 by 240
resolution for faster screen painting?

If one used only 320 by 240 in a window, then that would be 1/4 of the
screen or less!

--
Regards,
Casey

[Peter Hansen]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Casey Hawthorne wrote:[color=blue]
> Aren't games using full screen mode to address only 320 by 240
> resolution for faster screen painting?
>
> If one used only 320 by 240 in a window, then that would be 1/4 of the
> screen or less![/color]

And, on many of our screens, only a few inches across and too
small to see without a magnifying glass...

Providing the user with the *option* of running in a window,
preferably resizable, or full-screen, would be best.

-Peter

[Lee Harr]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

On 2005-01-02, Brian Beck <exogen@gmail.c om> wrote:[color=blue]
> Alex Martelli wrote:[color=green]
>> You _gotta_ be kidding, right...? The Beginner's Guide link takes you
>> right to the BeginnersGuide page which starts with the reassurance that
>> Python is easy to learn even if you're new to programming and continues
>> with a zillion useful links. The Python Books link takes you to a huge[/color]
>
> While I agree that there is much useful content on the official Python
> site, I particularly hate the BeginnersGuide and much of the resulting
> introduction pages. Often when I happily refer Python to someone who
> wants to learn a simple language, I go to the Python site and imagine
> where I would start if I were them. Once I get to the BeginnersGuide I
> don't see anything immediately useful, and when I look for it I get
> frustrated.
>[/color]

I think it looks pretty good. The only problem I see is section 5
where it says:

5. Did we miss your concern?

Please add a comment to this page.


but the page is immutable.

[Jabaru]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

> BTW, I don't know of[color=blue]
> a way to write fullscreen games in C#...
>[/color]

Directx, Opengl, Gdi+, win32api, SDL... the list goes on

[Reinhold Birkenfeld]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Jabaru wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> BTW, I don't know of
>> a way to write fullscreen games in C#...
>>[/color]
>
> Directx, Opengl, Gdi+, win32api, SDL... the list goes on[/color]

Yes, that's right, but most of those you can use in Python, too. I
should have inserted the word "specific" at the right point in my
sentence <wink>

Reinhold

[John J. Lee]

Re: What can I do with Python ??

Lee Harr <lee@example.co m> writes:
[...][color=blue]
> I think it looks pretty good. The only problem I see is section 5
> where it says:
>
> 5. Did we miss your concern?
>
> Please add a comment to this page.
>
>
> but the page is immutable.[/color]

<pedant>
Hopefully one of the site maintainers will read this and demonstrate
that it's actually readonly rather than immutable, then make it
appendable ;-)
</pedant>


John