Ravi Teja wrote: > >> I've traditionally been a Java developer, although I play around with LISP. > > For most java developers, understanding dynamic typing is a big step. > Your Lisp background however would mean that you will pick up Python > very quickly. > > >> I recently migrated to Linux and I was exploring Mono as an > option for development on Linux. However, I've had some problems with > the maturity and support when working with Mono. > > IronPython (still a beta) BTW, runs on Mono as well and you can use > Mono through Python when you deem it ready. There is also Jython, which > runs on the Java platform if you feel married to Java platform or class > libraries. > > >> Is Python actively developed and supported on Linux? > > Yes and very well so. Many Linux distributions come with Python > pre-installed and Python has quite a bit of following in the Linux > crowd. Red Hat / Fedora installer - Anaconda, for example uses Python. > > >> Would it be a viable option for cross-platform application development? > > Python is a very good candidate for open source development. But then > again, most open source languages these days are. The culture is a bit > different though. Although Python is byte code compiled just like Java, > Python programmers are not averse to using native extensions (which in > most cases can be compiled painlessly on all popular platforms thanks > to Python's distutils). Java programmers on the other hand generally > extol 'Pure Java'. Both approaches have their own advantages and > disadvantages (Swing vs SWT) and you can use either with Python. > > >> Can anyone recommend an open source IDE for Python that runs on Linux? > > Most Python IDEs are open source along with a few commercial ones. > http://wiki.python.org/moin/IntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments > Everyone has their favorites and you should pick your own. > > Since you have a Java background, PyDev is probably the best choice for > you. JEdit also has a Python plugin. I just use SciTE (just an editor) > most of the time.
Ravi, Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. It sounds like Python may be the solution I am searching for. I took a look at lists of the IDEs on the wiki. Looks like I might be sticking with the IDLE editor for now. :] Perhaps I will have to write a simple IDE for Python that integrates Glade and supports pyGTK when I have some more programming experience... Scott Huey -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
