Could the Python swallow the Fox?

I am going to throw another view into the mix here.

I have been faced with the same question. 1 man shop with lots of apps. A
while ago I made a big push to convert all the user interfaces to HTML. It
was tricky because what I do is to host the interfaces in the _webbrowser
while running on the desktop and the same interfaces run through the web.
Works great and I can't believe more people aren't into that approach. The
other benefit of HTML interfaces is caching, I built a web server into the
app so that it can be run as a service and users can access the app across
the network. Performance is great.

For desktop apps, I am hoping that 64bit platforms hopefully won't affect my
apps too much, I have heard that I should be able to run the app in the
32bit compatible mode (which I haven't tried yet). Run as a COM server I am
able to pull the HTML interfaces into .Net. So I can also have a '.Net'
frontend when it is a corporate requirement for installation at some sites.

I can write in C# and C++ but in my mind they are not what I would use for
writing business type applications. Strong typing is great in it's place but
it is annoying as hell when all I care about is building a business rule.
VB.Net might be alright to do the job as well, but I am very wary of being
locked into a proprietory language again.

Enter the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) layer for the .NET.

Since the DLR acts as a layer on top of the CLR, dynamic languages that
leverage the DLR will have full access to .NET programming libraries written
in other languages like C#. So I have the access to other languages when I
want them. But the DLR is also supporting non-proprietory languages (Ruby,
Python, Javascript).

I am having a good look at Python. I have the skills to use Javascript but
Python has an enormous number of support libraries already existing for
anything I could want to do with it. It seems better suited to backend
processing. I have been a MS shop through and through, so until recently any
open source language wasn't going to be an option .... until I read about
IronPython and .Net. MS has employed the guy that was heavily involved in
Jython (Python on Java) to write IronPython, which is Python in .Net, and
made it open source!! Apparently IronPython will run in Silverlight as well.
God, another language right, that's all I need, but the more I look at it
the closer to Fox it seems.

Related, but separate, is that I am starting to take Google's offerings
seriously. Google is doing some revolutionary things that may have very big
implications for programmers. What's that got to do with Python? Google has
the guy employed that wrote Python, and Python is core to their web
applications, and now MS has their own version of the language. That is job
security, I think.

So the pathway forward will be to take the business rules and convert them
to run in Python. They will probably be written in IronPython, though
apparently there are implementations of Python that can be accessed through
the MS script control. (Also through ASP pages). This code will be triggered
to run from the serverside code in the HTML interfaces. The cursor record is
converted into an object and passed into Python for business processing.
Hopefully, this code will be generic enough to run in Google web apps as
well.

Performance? Check this out ... "IronPython already provides better run-time
performance than the conventional C-based Python implementation in some
contexts, and, in an interview with eWeek, Microsoft developer Jim Hugunin
claimed that the eventual goal for IronPython is to achieve performance that
is 'at least two times faster than the native C-based implementation.'"

At the end of the day I have to ask ... what if cloud computing ends up the
winner? Am I going to have to rewrite again? I have my own personal reasons
for believing that cloud computing has compelling reasons for it to be a
serious competitor to the desktop. I have been a loyal MS adherent for many
years, but I don't know why MS didn't implement the Fox onto the DLR when
they obviously have the ability. It really ticks me off, this is the second
time in my career when corporate decisions have led to a language I am using
being killed. So no more lock-in, the 'suits' should not control computer
languages, it is Javascript & Python for me.

With the new implementation of Python (3000) not being backward compatible
with earlier versions, now might be a good time to start to seriously look
at the language.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Could the Python swallow the Fox?
    ... For desktop apps, I am hoping that 64bit platforms hopefully won't affect ... Enter the Dynamic Language Runtime layer for the .NET. ... I am having a good look at Python. ... involved in Jython to write IronPython, ...
    (microsoft.public.fox.programmer.exchange)
  • Re: Iron Python
    ... I think it is a fascinating development, but it is aiming in a different ... you have to separate the Python language ... IronPython has the entire Python ...
    (comp.lang.python)
  • Re: IronPython 0.7 released!
    ... IronPython is a Python implementation targeting the .NET and Mono ... the new Implementation Running on .NET of the Python programming ... as the Common Language Infrastructure and C# Language Specification ...
    (comp.lang.python)
  • Re: Scripting Language?
    ... It would be nice if Python became one of the supported languages in BDS!! ... Are you aware that IronPython is available for Visual Studio? ... compilation of source files like the Python language. ... embracing a shared source imitative that supports stuff for Mono - surly the ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Could the Python swallow the Fox?
    ... Python is not backward compatible ... For desktop apps, I am hoping that 64bit platforms hopefully won't affect ... Enter the Dynamic Language Runtime layer for the .NET. ... involved in Jython to write IronPython, ...
    (microsoft.public.fox.programmer.exchange)