I have a couple of Python 2.7 scripts I need to have them run from a webpage. I've never done this before, although I'm comfortable coding in Python and well versed in Linux, Apache, Nginx.
I see many different frameworks like the old CGI, WSGI, Django, etc.
I need some recommendations for a framework that would require not much changes on my Python code for it to run on a webpage.
It seems CGI would be fairly easy for me, but since there are many newer frameworks, I need some advices.
Thanks!
Flask is probably the most straightforward Python web framework to use. It touts itself as a micro framework, and is very, very fast to get up and running with.
If you have a relatively straightforward set of requirements, I'd highly recommend giving it a look over. You can find the "hello" world example on the project's homepage here: http://flask.pocoo.org/
Depending on your project's requirements (does it need to be highly available/resilient?), you may even be able to get by using Flask's built-in development webserver along with a process control system such as supervisord. I wouldn't recommend this for heavy or production workloads, but for something running out of production this set up would work just fine for you.
If you're looking for client side browser frameworks in Python, there are skulpt and brython.
When I was looking for a similar framework, I decided to learn leave python for a javascript framework (particularly AngularJS and Node JS) for a client side language. I personally felt that the size of community and learning resources available in those two areas were more robust, and provided greater opportunity to master the framework.
I am basically a PHP guy. now moving towards python. I am starting to learn python.
How do I install it and start working it, and develop websites .
I got totally confused with the alternative implementations in the download section of the Python site. Can you tell me what "alternative implementations" means?.
I mean to say: I can create a .php file in my server and then access it from browser like http://example.com/index.php, so I was wondering whether I can do the same with python, like creating a .py file and accessing from browser http://example.com/index.py.
Just as a disclaimer, I interpret you saying "run Python in a browser" as "making a website with Python."
If you want to start writing web applications in Python, you can either use CGI or use one of its many web app frameworks. Python is not like PHP in the sense that you can't just embed it in HTML. Many of those frameworks come with development servers that you can use to test your web app (by looking at it in a browser).
A particularly good Python web framework is Django.
I really do recommend that you do the Python tutorial before you dive into any of those frameworks, though. Python is not only for writing web applications, so you'll have to get some fundamentals down first before any of that makes sense to you.
As for installing Python, I recommend you take the version you got with your OS if you use Mac or Linux, or installing the Python 2.7.1 32-bit binary from python.org if you use Windows. The alternative implementations include a Python that runs on the Java virtual machine and one that runs on the .NET Common Language Runtime, but for your purposes the reference implementation, CPython, should work fine.
Python by default is a general purpose scripting language and is not meant specifically for web application development (like PHP is primarily). So, you'll first need to download and install Python (choose the version that's appropriate for your OS) from www.python.org I'd recommend v2.7.1 but you can try out v3.2 if you'd like.
The other versions (IronPython, Jython, etc) are Python implementations on other platforms (.NET and JVM respectively), and in all likelihood you don't need to bother with them unless you really want to.
To start working with Python and create web applications you will also need to download and install a Python-based web framework. There are many of them, too many in fact to list here. However, there is a page on the Python Wiki that has a list of useful frameworks for web development.
You don't "run it from a browser". You don't run PHP from a browser, either.
The way to use Python for web development is to use a framework like Django or Pyramid.
Sage or CodeNode let you run Python in a browser.
You can get a limited Python experience by pointing your browser to http://shell.appspot.com/ . You will be running Python 2.5.2 on Google's site.
This question already has answers here:
Closed 12 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
Python noob here: On a Python enabled web server, how do I use Python?
I want give web development using Python a shot, but I'm failing hard. I don't even know if I CAN run Python. The webpage for my web host says it supports all kinds of stuff, including Python. I've never touched anything CGI related and this does not appear to be a noob friendly area.
Below is all the information I could think of that might be useful:
Shared host: Yes
Webhost: dibbsonhosting.com
Server OS: linux
Python installed: Yes (or so says the webhost)
mod_python installed: Don't Know
WSGI installed: Don't Know
Access to http.conf: No
Terminal access: No
Cpanel: Yes
FTP: Yes
Django: downloaded latest stable release, not uploaded anywhere, not
sure where to put it.
DB: MySQL 5.x
I really want to use Python for web development! Thanks!
Alright, I'm not going to hold your hand, but let me suggest:
Start off by installing and running it on your own computer, if at all possible. This lets you see what you can do with Python before you have to worry about the complexities of setting it up with a webserver.
If you've never used Python before, then before you start trying to use it for web development, take a few minutes getting the feel of it: what function definitions look like, the abilities of slicing, the neatest way to do loops, and so on. There are various good tutorials available: Dive into Python claims to be aimed at people with experience programming in other languages.
Start learning with a microframework, rather than Django. When you want to do serious websites, you can take advantage of the power of Django, but for now, keep it straightforward. As was suggested in your other question, Flask and Bottle are good contenders.
MALON,
Django has a builtin development server; try it on your local machine first.
The Django tutorial seems to assume that you are running some Unix flavor (like Linux) on your local machine (a Mac would be fine too). If you are running some MS Windows, this page may help. Don't be scared of the command line, setup is only once.
The Django admin app is worth the trouble!
Indeed PHP is synonimous of cheap hosting and very well supported. Write some crap and run. Python support is not as pervasive; at some hosting providers, working with Python is almost as easy as with PHP, and most have instructions about Django in their FAQs.
The mechanics is different: Python frameworks don't reload with each page load like PHP, there is an application always running that responds to HTTP requests. That is why you are advised to start on your local machine, just to acquaint the new paradigm.
I currently work with .NET exclusively and would like to have a go at python. To this end I need to set up a python development environment. I guide to this would be handy. I guess I would be doing web development so will need a web server and probably a database. I also need pointers to popular ORM's, an MVC framework, and a testing library.
One of my main criteria with all this is that I want to understand how it works, and I want it to be as isolated as possible. This is important as i am wary of polluting what is a working .NET environment with 3rd party web and database servers. I am perfectly happy using SQLite to start with if this is possible.
If I get on well with this I am also likely to want to set up automated build and ci server (On a virtual machine, probably ubuntu). Any suggestions for these would be useful.
My ultimate aim if i like python is to have similar sorts of tools that i have available with .NET and to really understand the build and deployment of it all. To start with I will settle for a simple development environment that is as isolated as possible and will be easy to remove if I don't like it. I don't want to use IronPython as I want the full experience of developing a python solution using the tools and frameworks that are generally used.
It's not that hard to set up a Python environment, and I've never had it muck up my .NET work. Basically, install Python --- I'd use 2.6 rather than 3.0, which is not yet broadly accepted --- and add it to your PATH, and you're ready to go with the language. I wouldn't recommend using a Ubuntu VM as your development environment; if you're working on Windows, you might as well develop on Windows, and I've had no significant problems doing so. I go back and forth from Windows to Linux with no trouble.
If you have an editor that you're comfortable with that has basic support for Python, I'd stick with it. If not, I've found Geany to be a nice, light, easy-to-use editor with good Python support, though I use Emacs myself because I know it; other people like SCITE, NotePad++, or any of a slew of others. I'd avoid fancy IDEs for Python, because they don't match the character of the language, and I wouldn't bother with IDLE (included with Python), because it's a royal pain to use.
Suggestions for libraries and frameworks:
Django is the standard web framework, but it's big and you have to work django's way; I prefer CherryPy, which is also actively supported, but is light, gives you great freedom, and contains a nice, solid webserver that can be replaced easily with httpd.
Django includes its own ORM, which is nice enough; there's a standalone one for Python, though, which is even nicer: SQL Alchemy
As far as a testing library goes, pyunit seems to me to be the obvious choice
Good luck, and welcome to a really fun language!
EDIT summary: I originally recommended Karrigell, but can't any more: since the 3.0 release, it's been continuously broken, and the community is not large enough to solve the problems. CherryPy is a good substitute if you like a light, simple framework that doesn't get in your way, so I've changed the above to suggest it instead.
Well, if you're thinking of setting up an Ubuntu VM anyway, you might as well make that your development environment. Then you can install Apache and MySQL or Postgres on that VM just via the standard packaging tools (apt-get install), and there's no danger of polluting your Windows environment.
You can either do the actual development on your Windows machine via your favourite IDE, using the VM as a networked drive and saving the code there, or you can just use the VM as a full desktop environment and do everything there, which is what I would recommend.
Install the pre-configured ActivePython release from activestate.
Among other features, it includes the PythonWin IDE (Windows only) which makes it easy to explore Python interactively.
The recommended reference is Dive Into Python, mentioned many times on similar SO discussions.
You should install python 2.4, python 2.5, python 2.6 and python 3.0, and add to your path the one you use more often (Add c:\Pythonxx\ and c:\Pythonxx\Scripts).
For every python 2.x, install easy_install; Download ez_setup.py and then from the cmd:
c:\Python2x\python.exe x:\path\to\ez_setup.py
c:\Python2x\Scripts\easy_install virtualenv
Then each time you start a new project create a new virtual environment to isolate the specific package you needs for your project:
mkdir <project name>
cd <project name>
c:\Python2x\Scripts\virtualenv --no-site-packages .\v
It creates a copy of python and its libraries in .v\Scripts and .\v\Lib. Every third party packages you install in that environment will be put into .\v\Lib\site-packages. The -no-site-packages don't give access to the global site package, so you can be sure all your dependencies are in .\v\Lib\site-packages.
To activate the virtual environment:
.\v\Scripts\activate
For the frameworks, there are many. Django is great and very well documented but you should probably look at Pylons first for its documentions on unicode, packaging, deployment and testing, and for its better WSGI support.
For the IDE, Python comes with IDLE which is enough for learning, however you might want to look at Eclipse+PyDev, Komodo or Wingware Python IDE. Netbean 6.5 has beta support for python that looks promising (See top 5 python IDE).
For the webserver, you don't need any; Python has its own and all web framework come with their own. You might want to install MySql or ProgreSql; it's often better to develop on the same DB you will use for production.
Also, when you have learnt Python, look at Foundations of Agile Python Development or Expert Python Programming.
Using Python on Windows
SO: Python tutorial for total beginners?
Take a look at Pylons, read about WSGI and Paste.
There's nice introductory Google tech talk about them: ReUsable Web Components with Python and Future Python Web Development.
Here's my answer to similar question:
Django vs other Python web frameworks?
NOTE: I included a lot of links to frameworks, projects and what-not, but as a new user I was limited to 1 link per answer. If someone else with enough reputation to edit wants/can edit them into this answer instead of the footnotes, I'd be grateful.
There are some Python IDE's such as Wing IDE[1], I believe some people use Eclipse[2] with a python plugin[3] as well. A lot of people in the #python channel of FreeNode seem to prefer vim, emacs, nano and similar text editors in favor of IDE's. My personal preffered editor is Vim, but if you've mostly done .NET development on windows, presumably with the usual Visual X IDE's, vim and emacs will probably cause you culture shock and you'd be better of using an IDE.
Nearly all python web frameworks* support the WSGI standard[4], most of the large web servers have some sort of plugin to support WSGI, the others support WSGI via fast cgi or plain cgi.
The Zope[5] and Django[6] frameworks have their own ORM's, of other ORM's the two most well known appear to be SQL Alchemy[7] and SQL Object[8]. I only have experience with the former, but both support all possible sane database choices, including SQLite which is installed together with Python and hence perfectly suited to testing and experimenting without polluting your .NET environment with 3rd part web servers and database servers.
The builtin unittest[9] and pyunit[10] frameworks seem to be the preffered solutions for unit testing, but I don't have much experience with these.
bpython[11] and ipython[12] offer enhanced interactive python shells which can greatly help speed up and testing small bits of code and hence worth looking in to.
As for a list of well known and often used web frameworks, look into the following frameworks**:
Twisted[13] is a generic networking framework, which supports almost every single protocol under the sun.
Pylons[14] is light-weight framework aimed at being as flexible as possible and leaving all the choices about what ORM, templating language and what-not to you.
CherryPy[15] tries to provide an interface to expose Python objects to the web.
Django[6] attempts to be an all-in-one solution, builtin template system, ORM, admin pages and internationalization. While the previous frameworks have more DIY wiring together various frameworks work involved with them.
Zope[5] is aimed to be suitable for large enterprise applications, I've heard nothing but good things about it, but consensus seems to be that for smaller you're probably better off with one of the simpler and smaller frameworks.
TurboGears[16] is the framework I know the least about, but it seems to be mostly competition for Django.
This is everything I can think of right now, I'll edit and add stuff if I can think of it. I hope this helps you some in the wonderful world of python.
* - The main exception would be Apache's mod_python, which you should avoid for exactly that reason, use mod_wsgi instead.
** - Word of warning, I have not personally used these frameworks this is just a very short impression I have gotten from talking to other people about each framework, it may be wildly inaccurate. (If anyone has any corrections, do comment and I'll try to edit and fix this answer).
(The http:// is missing since they're recognized as links otherwise)
[1] www.wingware.com/
[2] www.eclipse.org/
[3] pydev.sourceforge.net/
[4] wsgi.org/wsgi/
[5] www.zope.org/
[6] www.djangoproject.com/
[7] www.sqlalchemy.org/
[8] www.sqlobject.org/
[9] docs.python.org/library/unittest.html
[10] pyunit.sourceforge.net/pyunit.html
[11] www.bpython-interpreter.org/
[12] ipython.scipy.org/
[13] twistedmatrix.com/trac/
[14] pylonshq.com/
[15] www.cherrypy.org/
[16] turbogears.org/
Environment?
Here is the simplest solution:
Install Active Python 2.6. Its the Python itself, but comes with some extra handy useful stuff, like DiveintoPython chm.
Use Komodo Edit 5. It is among the good free editor you can use for Python.
Use IDLE. Its the best simplest short snippet editor, with syntax highlighting and auto complete unmatched by most other IDEs. It comes bundled with python.
Use Ipython. Its a shell that does syntax highlighting and auto complete, bash functions, pretty print, logging, history and many such things.
Install easy_install and/or pip for installing various 3rd party apps easily.
Coming from Visual Studio and .Net it will sound a lot different, but its an entirely different world.
For the framework, django works the best. Walk thro the tutorial and you will be impressed enough. The documentation rocks. The community, you have to see for yourself, to know how wonderful it is!!
Python has build in SQL like database and web server, so you wouldn't need to install any third party apps. Remember Python comes with batteries included.
If you've worked with Eclipse before you could give Pydev a try
What is required to make the transition to Python 3.x for Google App Engine?
I know Google App Engine requires the use of at least Python 2.5.
Is it possible to use Python 3.0 already on Google App Engine?
It is impossible to currently use Python 3.x applications on Google App Engine. It's simply not supported, and I'd expect to see support for Java (or Perl, or PHP) before Python 3.x.
That said, the upgrade path is likely to be very simple from Python 2.5 to Python 3.x on App Engine. If/when the capability is added, as long as you've coded your application anticipating the changes in Python itself, it should be very straightforward. The heavy lifting has to be done by the Google Engineers. And you'll no doubt be able to keep your application at Python 2.5 for a long while after Python 3.0 is available.
At least at the being, Guido was working closely with the team at Google who is building AppEngine. When this option does become available, you will have to edit your main XAML file.
I agree with Chris B. that Python 3.0 support may not be forthcoming too soon, but I'm not sure I agree that it will come sooner than Perl or PHP. At the Google I/O conference last year, they were very mum on what future languages they would support on AppEngine but they were pretty clear on the fact that they're actively exploring how to safely allow other code to run. One of the main reason they chose to support Python is that they due to it's dynamically compiled nature, they could support 3rd party library extensions with the minimal restriction that all add-ons must be in pure Python.
I wouldn't be surprised if Python 3.0 support was introduced sooner than new languages.
The app.yaml syntax already supports multiple languages and multiple API versions, though only one of each (Python, API version 1) is currently supported. Presumably, one of those extension mechanisms will be used to specify that you want Python 3, and it'll be up to you to port your app over to work in Python 3, then change that setting.
As it does not look like that google updates app engine to python 3 soon it might be worth to keep an eye on Jython. As of now they still work on 2.6, but that would already be better than 2.5.