All things Jythonic 2004/6

edittwiki - external editor tool for TWiki

Announcing edittwiki 0.1, an external editor launcher for the popular TWiki wiki. This is similar in spirit to the editMoin tool for MoinMoin wikis. I wrote this in Jython and compiled into a java jar so it should run on a wide set of operating systems. It features a configurable editor setting so you can edit TWiki topics using your favourite editor (including html editors) and works with TWiki installations that are password secured.

This is the initial release, so please be gentle! and feel free to provide feedback here or via email to etaekema-at-earthlink-dot-net.

Jython and Swing

Not so useless Jython from the Useless Python blog . A basic example of how to get going with Jython and Swing!

The following is an example of using the Jython interactive interpreter from the Windows 2000 command prompt. On this page, we demonstrate several Jython basics, including:

• use of the jython interpreter from the MS Windows 2000 command prompt

• collection of user input with javax.swing.JOptionPane.showInputDialog()

• conversion of strings to integers, and integers to strings, plus simple addition

• display of output with javax.swing.JOptionPane.showMessageDialog()

Write Your Own Mini Aggregator with Jython and Rome!

Rome is a new java API for reading RSS and ATOM feeds. Here is a quick demonstration of what you can do with it using Jython, the Java Scripting Swiss Army Knife.

Ok, you will need to add both the latest build of Rome and JDOM to your classpath. Next fire up jython or if you like use the Jython Console which will make exploring the ROME api a little easier.

Here is the source code then of a simple aggregator written in jython.

from java.net import URL
from com.sun.syndication.feed.synd import SyndFeedI
from com.sun.syndication.io import SyndFeedInput

myUrl = URL('http://www.pycs.net/users/0000177/rss.xml')

input = SyndFeedInput()
feed = input.build(myUrl.openStream())

entries = feed.getEntries()

for post in entries:
    title = post.getTitle()
    link = post.getLink()

    print """<a href='%s'>%s</a>""" % (title, link)

When you run this, you will get a list of links pointing to the posts in the feed, in this case the feed for my main site.

Jython Bibliography

I've put together a Jython bibliography that lists articles, web published pages and books published on Jython in the last few years. Please let me know if I've missed anything. The intent is to capture substantial works including articles published only on websites in an effort build up a more current list of works than is on the Jython home page today..

Try Out Jython Console with Code Completion!

Thanks to Matt Payne for the pointer to the Jython Console with Code Completion. Its a bit rough but very cool and useful nonetheless.

Jython Presentation by Fred Sells

Here is Fred Sells' Jython presentation to the the Gainesville GATOR Java Users Group. You can download the .6 meg zip file here.

Jython Interactive Shell in JFrame

Benjamin Jung has written up a Jython JFrame based interactive shell that is accessible from a web browser. He has the source here so you can embed Jython in your apps as well.

jython

In response to to Tim Bray's original post, Chad has a good idea for Jython future at Sun:

Sun should promote python as its VB.Net alternative, and build a tool around it. This could be really useful for developers who need to use Java but like the .Net toolset.

Thank you Jesse!

Jesse's new license for Jython is now under a better CreativeCommons license. Thank you sir!

TestMaker and Jython

A coworker pointed me to PushToTest's TestMaker, an open-source web app testing tool that generates test cases written in Jython. Cool. I am going to spend some time over the next fgew weeks working with this so expect more postings about it in the future.

TestMaker is a free open-source framework and utility for building intelligent test agents to check Web-enabled applications and Web Services for scalability, performance and functionality. TestMaker is a 100% Java application and runs everywhere Java runs, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Macintosh OS X. Requires Java 1.4.1 or greater.

Jython vs. Groovy smackdown

Kevin Dangoor, over at Blue Sky on Mars has been doing some thinking about Jython and Groovy:

... when looking to do scripting on top of Java, I think Groovy is going to be a great choice. The big trouble with scripting your Java apps in Jython is that you need to make the mental shift over to Python syntax. With Groovy, most legal Java syntax works just fine. So, if the Java-ism for doing something is what comes to mind quickly, you can write it that way. The times when you're trying to really save on some work, you do things in a more Groovy way.

I think part of the power of Jython is that it brings a different way of thinking and almost forces you to look at things in ways that you might not if you were working in the Java idiom. If you are working in Java and Groovy, it might be too easy to just drop down into Java and not take advantage of the power of of the high level language. Using Jython you are truly working in a very high level language...

Just my two cents.

Jython Devlopment Toolkit (JyDT)

Checkout this Jython plugin for Eclipse:

The Red Robin Jython development plug-in for Eclipse aims to provide most development facilities expected by a Jython developer. The project started in November 2003 and is carried out with limited resources. There are no big plans about where to go with the plugin. The evolution is driven by the needs of the users.

Oracle JDeveloper does Python

JDeveloper uses Jython 2.1 in a Python plugin for provide Python syntax highlighting for .py files.