ShowMeDo Blog

Do you want to learn to program Python and use tools like wxPython, pyWin32 and Django?

At ShowMeDo we’re about to introduce subscriber-only tutorials in addition to all our free tutorial videos. Subscribers get access to freshly produced series aimed directly at new Python programmers who want to learn more. Become a Member to be kept informed.

We remember going through the process of figuring out which tools to use, how to be Pythonic (rather than program as if using C++ or Java!) and which modules needed to be learnt. It took time! We’re now distilling that knowledge so you can short-circuit the learning process.

During February we will introduce our new Subscription system. Everything else at ShowMeDo is the same - over 130 free Python programming tutorials (450 free tutorials in total) from 70 authors with more to come. The Subscription system is an added extra for those who want to learn more about Python.

Every month we’ll launch new videos just for subscribers. Subscribers will be encouraged to tell us what they want to learn and we’ll do our best to deliver. The videos will be a mix of:

• Worked examples (e.g. building a useful wxPython GUI)
• Challenges based on recent lessons
• Theoretical lessons (e.g. the core Python language)
• Overviews of great tools (e.g. using IDEs and source-code-control systems)

Offer: Everyone who is a registered Member before we launch on February 9th will be offered a discounted Subscription. Registration has no downsides and takes just a few moments.

Privacy note - you’ll receive 1 Update email roughly every month and you can opt-out at any time. We don’t share your email with anyone. The Update mails will contain details about the Subscription offer and lists our latest videos and news.

To learn more either join us in our Google Group or mail us directly (ian AT showmedo.com).

I’ve been wondering how many downloads the popular Python projects receive. The Python wiki’s MostPopularPythonProjects page is out of date - from 2004 (and annoyingly I can’t log in to edit it).

I followed up on the project links and have new download statistics. Each project is hosted at SourceForge, the numerical link goes to SourceForge’s statistics.

• wxPython, 46k/month
• pywin32, 22k/month
• numpy, 18k/month
• mysql-python, 11k/month
• matplotlib, 8k/month
• py2exe, 8k/month
• jython, 6k/month
• scons, 6k/month

Since March 2004 these figures suggest a tripling for NumPy and a doubling for wxPython, jython, py2exe and mysql-python - great growth!

The Python wiki also states that in March 2004 Python-2.3.3.exe had 60K downloads. Looking at the December 2007 Python.org download stats we can see that /ftp/python/2.5.1/python-2.5.1.msi has 511,104 downloads.

Assuming March 2004 was a representative month for Windows, this shows almost a 10-fold growth in Windows downloads in 3.5 years.

I’m glad to be a part of such a strong group which covers so many varied areas - kudos to the PSF and all who help in the community.

Are you learning Python?  ShowMeDo provides Python training in Club ShowMeDo, the training is aimed at new and intermediate Python programmers who want to learn Python the easy way.

Want to see a new Python 3D application being built from the ground-up? Erik Thompson is creating a series called Developing emol! which will be a 3D viewer for molecules:

So far he has covered Use Cases, installing wxPython and pyOpenGL and now he is showing how to develop example openGL code with Python. This series will continue as he builds up the viewer. Do remember to log-in and leave feedback for Erik telling him why you’re watching and what he’s teaching you.

If you like Erik’s series then please do leave him a comment thanking him and saying what else you’d like to see. You can watch 150 Python tutorial videos and learn other skills at ShowMeDo.com.

Interested in seeing Python run inside Firefox? André Roberge has created 3 screencasts which show his Crunchy running inside Firefox:

The demos show different Python interpreters running in Firefox, Crunchy interacting with the official Python tutorial webpages, writing live Python code in the browser, drawing, animation, matplotlib, doctests and a beautiful Python editor…all in the browser.

If you like André’s video then please do leave him a comment thanking him and saying what else you’d like to see. You can watch 149 Python tutorial videos and learn other skills at ShowMeDo.com.

Would you like to see Jython in action? David Fung has created a short video which compares Python and Jython at the command line:

David even shows you how to interactively develop a GUI using Java’s Swing.

If you like David’s video then please do leave him a comment thanking him and saying what else you’d like to see. You can watch 149 Python tutorial videos and learn other skills at ShowMeDo.com.