>That is a large part of my point. The cross-platform idea >sounds nice, but if you look closer, you see either java >stacks configured to be so specific that the architecture is >brittle, not flexible (if you are looking at the "high" >side) or severly handicapped versions running on smaller >platforms (where I see more of a future market). So while >the languages are more standardized, the platforms today >diverge more than the OS differences hemming portable C in >the late eighties.

Of course I was talking about getting python on phones (handhelds, etc) and not desktops. The only issue so far has been only the return key on windows for desktop apps. Of course I'm using Dabo and many of the issues are taken care of.

>Looking at python, I see version incompatibilities between >CPython, IronPython and Jython and (probably more crippling) >the inability to use most CPython C-bound stuff from >IronPython and Jython. So perhaps for the desktop things >like JPype or the DotNet-calling CPython - DotNet-Python ? >Python.Net ? whatever - might be more adequate...

I just use the standard - Python. IronPython only for .Net, and same with jython - only for java. But Python runs on all of the desktops.



>On the web end in one customer base we recently sampled the >Asp.net growth is remarkable (and nearly none of the many >python frameworks are used, similarly minuscule RoR, but PHP >still has sizable percentage of "old" smaller users, but >less growth even in pages count). Java also drives a number >of sites (especially from bigger teams) and java WS or >XML-RPC as well as old (S)FTP and HTTP file transfer are the >data exchange routes. This is within local branches of >govt., state and city level.

I really don't know what to say about the info. I know that Ruby is very popular ( if list traffic is a indicator) and
Python was awarded the language of 2007.
http://www.tiobe.com/index.htm?tiobe_index
It went from 8 to 6th.

I live in Northern Cal and the internet is not very stable. In SF bay area and Sacramento it's much better. So I don't see many installs of internet based apps. I guess there could be plenty of intranet apps but I don't see them.

But my guess is ASP is not the way to go. I think people are tired of web apps that don't match the way desktop apps work. So I think we will see flex2 and air kind of web apps in the future. But all of them as of today suffer from database access issues.

>Back end use is split between oracle, DB2 and SQL-Server and >some Postgres. Sun's aquisition of MySQL might change that - >and a large part of workgroups in private economy thinks >Excel is a great way to store data.

Gee I always thought MySQL was the most used database engine on the internet due to LAMP and people like google, and amazon. My customers don't buy oracle (although I have one guy). I have mostly MS-SQL,Postgres and DBF's. I like Postgres the most.


>Can follow your thinking - I'd like to have a common >environment from PC's under linux and Win down to >smartphones with screens 320*240 and including those special >handhelds for measuring gas consumption, having interfaces >to internal sensors and so on.

Right now I think python leverages my VFP knowledge the most and it's cross platform enough for desktop apps. In the future both of the popular GUI's (QT, wxPython) are going to be web enabled. Both are using webkit so it looks like the desktop code will run on the web. I'm sure there will be issues and I wonder how they will interface to database engines. But the demo's show the GUI part working.