Comparison of Python IDEs for Development

Until recently, I hadn’t looked into Python IDEs for several years; I’m not generally an IDE person — I usually use Emacs. When I last checked them out, Python IDEs were a dismal lot; it’s not easy to write tools for a dynamic language, because they have to analyze the code, and a lot of […]

Intro to PySide/PyQt: Basic Widgets and Hello, World!

This installment gives a introduction to the very most basic points of PySide and PyQt. We’ll talk a bit about the kinds of objects they use, and talk through a couple of very simple examples that will give you a basic idea of how Python/Qt applications are constructed. First, a basic overview of Qt objects. […]

Install PySide and PyQt on Windows, Mac and Linux

In the last article, I introduced you to Qt and its Python interfaces, PyQt and PySide; now that you know a bit about them, pick one and install it. I recommend PySide for two reasons: first, this tutorial is conceived in terms of PySide, and may cover a few topics that are less fully-implemented in […]

Python Decorators Overview

Decorators in Python seem complicated, but they’re very simple. You’ve probably seen them; they’re the odd bits before a function definition that begin with ‘@’, e.g.: [python] def decorator(fn): def inner(n): return fn(n) + 1 return inner @decorator def f(n): return n + 1 [/python] Note the function called decorator; it takes a function as […]

Select a random item from a list/tuple/data stucture in Python

One of the most common tasks that requires random action is selecting one item from a group, be it a character from a string, unicode, or buffer, a byte from a bytearray, or an item from a list, tuple, set, or xrange. It’s also common to want a sample of more than one item. Don’t […]

Overview of Python GUI development (Hello World)

Python is well suited for rapid development of cross-platform applications of all sorts, and that includes desktop GUI apps. There are choices to be made when starting to develop a GUI application in Python, however, and this article provides the information you need to set out on the right path. We will discuss what serious […]

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