Python Programming on WIN32: Help for Windows Programmers - Softcover

Hammond, Mark; Robinson, Andy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1565926218 ISBN 13: 9781565926219

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2000

Synopsis

Python is growing in popularity; based on download statistics, there are now over 450,000 people using Python, and more than 150,000 people using Python on Windows. Use of the language has been growing at about 40% per year since 1995, and there is every reason to believe that growth will continue.Despite Python's increasing popularity on Windows, Python Programming on Win32 is the first book to demonstrate how to use it as a serious Windows development and administration tool. Unlike scripting on Unix, Windows scripting involves integrating a number of components, such as COM or the various mail and database APIs, with the Win32 programming interface. While experienced Windows C++ programmers can find their way through the various objects, most people need some guidance, and this book is it. It addresses all the basic technologies for common integration tasks on Windows, explaining both the Windows issues and the Python code you need to glue things together.Topics include:

• The Python language and the PythonWin extensions
• Building a GUI with COM
• Adding a Macro language
• Distributing the application
• Client-side COM for output and data access
• Integration with mail and other internet protocols
• Managing users and drives

This is a vital and unique book. Python Programming on Win32 is an excellent presentation of Windows application development and a solid illustration of how to use Python in the Windows environment.

About this title

Review

Python Programming on Win32 zeroes in on the strengths of the Python programming language for the Windows platform. If you would like to use Python on Windows with Office 2000, this book is a perfect choice forgetting started. While it's not an introduction to Python programming itself, the book does present some basic Python examples. (The authors do present an impressive list of real-world projects that have used Python successfully, including an application at NASA and a major Web search engine).

In lieu of a general language tour, this book centres on practical tips and examples for using Python on Windows, beginning with downloading and installing the free Python package. The most useful examples here present a Python library for general accounting objects. You'll learn how to write COM servers in Python and then how to script them in Visual Basic (used here to build user interfaces) and how to control Word and Excel with OLEAutomation in Python. One standout example looks at building and printing accounting reports in Office 2000 using Python as the script language.

Later sections look at other possibilities, including how to use Python's support for MFC to build user interfaces. A notable section here looks at Windows NT system administration in Python. Because of its built-in support for dictionaries, Python is a natural fit for working with users, groups, permissions and the like.

While Python's initial habitat may be UNIX, Python Programming on Win32 shows that this powerful and increasingly popular object- oriented language may find its next home on Windows. Provided you have some previous exposure to the language, this book is an excellent resource for using Python in a Windows setting. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Python programming quick-start, Windows Python basics, Python support for COM/DCOM, the Python win editor, Office 2000scripting, NT administration and system programming, Python MFC programming and Active Scripting.

About the Author

Mark Hammond is an independent Microsoft Windows consultant working out of Melbourne, Australia. He studied computer science at the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia), and then worked with several large financial institutions in Australia. He started his consulting operation in 1995. Mark has produced many of the Windows extensions for Python, including PythonWin, Active Scripting, and Active Debugging support, and coauthored the COM framework and extensions. He is also a leading authority on Active Scripting and related technologies and has spoken on this subject at Microsofts three most recent Professional Developers conferences. Apart from being a father to his teenage daughter, having an interest in live music, and providing way-too-many free Python extensions, Mark has no life!

Andy Robinson is a London-based consultant specializing in business analysis, object-oriented design, and Windows development. He studied physics and philosophy, then Japanese studies at Oxford. He spent a year in advertising in Tokyo, two more in investment banking, and a long spell as the finance director of a startup in the sports industry. Observing that in all these positions he always ended up having to rewrite software, he moved to full-time computer consulting four years ago. He is currently helping one of the world's largest fund managers to internationalize their systems to handle Asian languages, developing Python systems for financial analysis, and reporting. Back when Andy had spare time, his passions were track and field, and rock climbing. Right now his two sons, Tim and Harry, are taking up all of his time.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1565926218
• ISBN 13: 9781565926219
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 672