Suggestion for Web App

[Harlin Seritt]

I want to make a recommendation to a group of internal customers where
I work concerning a Python web framework. They are seeking to build a
portal that can handle around 5000 total users but probably no more
than 100-200 simultaneous users. This is supposed to serve mainly
static content - the content will hold references, tutorials and
examples for different technologies, a forum (similar probably to
phpbb) and podcasts (rss and mp3 files). Also I believe it will
definitely need a decent DB server for this.

They have some other suggestions ranging from Websphere/JSP's to PHP. I
personally don't think the PHP will scale well for growth and I also
think that using Java/JSPs will be too slow for this sort of thing.

I normally work as system and application admin and use Python in a
number of ways to get the job done. Naturally, I am naturally inclined
to suggest something that uses Python or something "Pythonic". I wanted
to suggest Zope but there are also other ones I'm thinking of as well
like CherryPy and Karrigell. Which one of these (or other ones you guys
know of) would do the best job in this situation?

Also do you guys know if MySQL would work with this or should they use
something more robust like DB2 (IBM shop)?

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Harlin Seritt

[Fuzzyman]

Harlin Seritt wrote:

I want to make a recommendation to a group of internal customers where
I work concerning a Python web framework. They are seeking to build a
portal that can handle around 5000 total users but probably no more
than 100-200 simultaneous users. This is supposed to serve mainly
static content - the content will hold references, tutorials and
examples for different technologies, a forum (similar probably to
phpbb) and podcasts (rss and mp3 files). Also I believe it will
definitely need a decent DB server for this.

Django. :-)

Why not just use static HTML for the static content ? You can serve RSS
and mp3s as static content too. Do you need CMS capabilities via the
web interface ?

Then you can just use a separate forum program.

Fuzzyman
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/index.shtml
They have some other suggestions ranging from Websphere/JSP's to PHP. I
personally don't think the PHP will scale well for growth and I also
think that using Java/JSPs will be too slow for this sort of thing.

I normally work as system and application admin and use Python in a
number of ways to get the job done. Naturally, I am naturally inclined
to suggest something that uses Python or something "Pythonic". I wanted
to suggest Zope but there are also other ones I'm thinking of as well
like CherryPy and Karrigell. Which one of these (or other ones you guys
know of) would do the best job in this situation?

Also do you guys know if MySQL would work with this or should they use
something more robust like DB2 (IBM shop)?

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

Harlin Seritt

[Harlin Seritt]

"Why not just use static HTML for the static content ?"

Makes sense... now, what about for having the portal capabilities
(users log in, save profiles, etc)... what would be best for that? I
really don't think though that a CMS is necessary. Does anyone know of
a Python forum package similar to phpBB?

thanks,

Harlin

[Magnus Lycka]

Harlin Seritt wrote:

I want to make a recommendation to a group of internal customers where
I work concerning a Python web framework. They are seeking to build a
portal that can handle around 5000 total users but probably no more
than 100-200 simultaneous users. This is supposed to serve mainly
static content - the content will hold references, tutorials and
examples for different technologies, a forum (similar probably to
phpbb) and podcasts (rss and mp3 files). Also I believe it will
definitely need a decent DB server for this.

They have some other suggestions ranging from Websphere/JSP's to PHP. I
personally don't think the PHP will scale well for growth and I also
think that using Java/JSPs will be too slow for this sort of thing.
There are certainly big PHP sites (Wikipedia?) and I'm not sure
Python is faster than Java/JSP (given enough memory on the server).
I'd use Python too, but that's more due to maintainablility and
rapid development than performance.
I normally work as system and application admin and use Python in a
number of ways to get the job done. Naturally, I am naturally inclined
to suggest something that uses Python or something "Pythonic". I wanted
to suggest Zope but there are also other ones I'm thinking of as well
like CherryPy and Karrigell. Which one of these (or other ones you guys
know of) would do the best job in this situation?
I never felt Zope was very pythonic... You certainly get a lot out
of the box with Zope, but there seems to be a big learning curve as
soon as you go beyond the most obvious things. Knowing Python won't
mean that you feel at home in Zope. Zope 3 seems to improve things,
but almost all existing Zope products today are Zope 2 thingies, so
it seems a year early or so to jump onto the Zope 3 train if you don't
want a lot of work.

It seems the popular tool kits these days are Django and Turbo Gears.
I have heard a lot of good things about both. I think both have video
tutorials and other introduction docs that are easy to digest.
Also do you guys know if MySQL would work with this or should they use
something more robust like DB2 (IBM shop)?

Typically, I warn people about MySQL, since it's not very mature in
the role as a full RDBMS, but it's been very successful for use as
container for web site content. This role, with lots of simple reads,
no complex transactions and relatively few updates is just where
MySQL shines. Don't use it for mission critical OLTP applications
such as booking or accounting systems though. I think MySQL is robust.