Hello fellow Python Advocates! Help me promote Python to a larger audience.
An introduction to SketchUp: ==================== I don't know if you are familiar with "Google Sketchup". It is the best 3d CAM program available. If you have not checked it out and do modeling of any kind, or want to learn modeling, you need to see it right away. SketchUp offers a simple and intuitive interface for drawing 3D models. Very powerful, and Very simple. Now before you say "Blender has a Python API", your right, but Blender and SketchUp are like two sides of the "modeling mountain". There are things you can do in 5 minutes with SketchUP that would take hours with Blender, and vice versa. SketchUp is more archtecural based. Google provides both a FREE and PRO version of the application. Now, although most free versions of a software are cut down so much that they are little more than toys...this is not the case with SketchUp!...You can do almost everything in the free version as in the pro...including scripting! Unfortunatly though SketchUp currently uses Ruby(sorry to use profanity) language for scripting on both the free and pro versions. IMHO...and you will probably agree... programming with Ruby is neither fun or efficient. Don't get me wrong i am not knocking Ruby. But i have tried to learn Rudy and i all i get is a headache...C in my opinion is much easier than Ruby(but this may just be me). So basically SketchUp is intended for beginners as well as pros. And inline with SketchUp's philosophy I believe Python will make the application more intuitive and more fun. Creating less overhead to learn the API and at the same time expose new people to the greatness of Python! This is the slogan i took from there website: =============================== "We designed SketchUp's simplified toolset, guided drawing system and clean look-and-feel to help you concentrate on two things: getting your work done as efficiently as possible, and having fun while you're doing it." Which is 100% correct, but the sort-coming here is the API. I really think it would be in Google interest to include Python as a scripting language. And before you say..."scripting is not THAT important".... i say wrong, without the scripting API more advanced "modeler" types like myself would not be as interested in SketchUP. Why Python? you ask. Well Python has more docs, tutorials, and info than Ruby, Python has a MUCH clearer syntax, and Python is easy to learn for n00bs...or anybody. And Python promotes a better coding style than Ruby. I have looked over many Ruby scripts and they are just a mess. Since Ruby does not enforce ellipsis for a method call, parsing code with your eyes can be very frustrating. Also Ruby offers too many ways to do one thing, alowing two scripts that do the exact same thing to look completely different. Some of the things I like more about python: -I think classes are much easier to write and understand. Python keywords are a no brainer! When i first studied python the keywords stuck in my head right away! No need to go back to the docs to refresh my memory. -print instead of puts -input instead of gets -elif instead of elsif -None instead of nil --WTH is nil anyway? -list comprehensions: [x for x in range(100) if x % 2 == 0] even a n00b can see what that is doing . -The dict and list objects could not be easier to use. And the similarity for accessing list indexes, string indexes, and dict could not be easier to remember. Also something i find completely frustrating about Ruby is the end statement, Why in the world, do we need such things in a high level language? High level languages are suppost to take the burden off the developer and put it on the machine(where it belongs). Python uses indentation instead of the "end" keyword to denote a block. Which has the effect of creating a good coding style from day one, and also makes for easy reading of source code, something very important to a n00b (i know i am preaching to the choir here;) Credit where credit is do: ================== You know, Guidio van Rossum really nailed it when he created this language. He took the best of everything he saw that was good and left out everything he saw was bad (i think only one other entity has done his before long ago...see Book of Genesis ;) Now if we could get Python into SketchUp this would be a win for SketchUp, AND for Python. Python would get more exposure, and SketchUP would be easier to use, sticking to there policy above. And when people have a choice between Python and Ruby... you and I both know who will win that competition ;-). Now before you say..."don't tell us, tell the SketchUp DEV TEAM". I have hinted at adding Python as a second scripting API, but what needs to happen is to get a list together of people that use SketchUp or people who want use SketchUp, or people who just think it is a damn good idea and submit it to the DEV TEAM. Look forward to hearing from you! I am open to any suggestions good or bad. Thanks -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
