A Few More Forrester Survey Questions

[Jeff Rush]

I'm down to the wire here on answering the Forrester survey but am stumped on
a few questions I hope someone can help me out with.

1) What -existing- examples of the use of Python to create social
web applications are there? These include chat, collaboration,
forum boards, and editable content pages, RSS feeds.

I know I use a lot of these, but under pressure I'm not coming
up with a lot of names. Can you throw a few my way?

2) How easy is it to install an application written in the language?
How is the application deployed?

I'm having some trouble understanding the difference between
"deployment" and "installation". I suspect those words may
have a special meaning to Java developers (who designed the survey)
or to Big Corporate IT developers. Ideas?

I can tell the story of distutils, python eggs and PyPI, and py2exe
and py2mumble for the Mac -- is there more to the story than that?

3) What is the value of the language to developers?

Yeah, a very common, slippery question. Toss me some good
explanations of why -you- value Python. Readable, free,
cross-platform, powerful. What else? I'll synthesize
something out of everyone's answers.
Thanks for any one-line answers you can dash off to me today.

Jeff Rush
Python Advocacy Coordinator

[Cameron Laird]

In article <ma***************************************@python. org>,
Jeff Rush <je**@taupro.comwrote:

[Paul Rubin]

cl****@lairds.us (Cameron Laird) writes:

What might C. mean? Say I install a program, but I still have to worry
about how I'm going to configure it within the cluster where I intend to
use it, AND I need to co-ordinate its configuration with the central
database on which it depends, AND I have to tie it in to our license-
management system, AND there are issues with users sharing data and also
protecting data from each other, AND ...--well, all those things that
happen after narrow-sense installation are still part of "deployment".

Deployment also refers to pre-installation issues, like buying the
hardware that you're going to install on.

[Steve Holden]

Paul Rubin wrote:

cl****@lairds.us (Cameron Laird) writes:

>What might C. mean? Say I install a program, but I still have to worry
about how I'm going to configure it within the cluster where I intend to
use it, AND I need to co-ordinate its configuration with the central
database on which it depends, AND I have to tie it in to our license-
management system, AND there are issues with users sharing data and also
protecting data from each other, AND ...--well, all those things that
happen after narrow-sense installation are still part of "deployment".

Deployment also refers to pre-installation issues, like buying the
hardware that you're going to install on.

You *install* programs. You *deploy* "solutions" ;-)

regards
Steve
--
Steve Holden [phone] [phone]
Holden Web LLC/Ltd http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb http://del.icio.us/steve.holden
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[Ben Finney]

Paul Rubin <http://ph****@NOSPAM.invalidwrites:

cl****@lairds.us (Cameron Laird) writes:

all those things that happen after narrow-sense installation are
still part of "deployment".

Deployment also refers to pre-installation issues, like buying the
hardware that you're going to install on.

Agreed. I usually discuss "deployment" as meaning "everything required
to take something from the point of working in a vendor's lab
environment, to an actual working installation in a production
environment".

--
\ "Sunday School: A prison in which children do penance for the |
`\ evil conscience of their parents." -- Henry L. Mencken |
_o__) |
Ben Finney

[Paul Rubin]

Ben Finney <bi****************@benfinney.id.auwrites:

Agreed. I usually discuss "deployment" as meaning "everything required
to take something from the point of working in a vendor's lab
environment, to an actual working installation in a production
environment".

I'd go beyond that. It includes putting the people and procedures in
place for keeping the production system operating, upgrading it as
needed, customer support, the whole bit. It's all the stuff that
happens on the other side of the line separating "development" from
"operations".

[Maria R]

On May 20, 7:28 am, Paul Rubin <http://[e-mail]:

Ben Finney <[e-mail]:

Agreed. I usually discuss "deployment" as meaning "everything required
to take something from the point of working in a vendor's lab
environment, to an actual working installation in a production
environment".

I'd go beyond that. It includes putting the people and procedures in
place for keeping the production system operating, upgrading it as
needed, customer support, the whole bit. It's all the stuff that
happens on the other side of the line separating "development" from
"operations".

I would suggest a somewhat more limited view.
That is, deployment is the process after development is finished (or
the product system is purchased) up until it is in full operation
(including establishing support organisation etc).
The exact point of time is, of course, not very clear cut.
Upgrading the product, adding more users, extending the use etc. is
not, as I see it, *deployment*.
But then again, one could say that an upgrade is deployed. However, I
prefer to view that as a separate project with its own process.

[Paul Rubin]

Maria R <Ma**************@accalon.comwrites:

I would suggest a somewhat more limited view.
That is, deployment is the process after development is finished (or
the product system is purchased) up until it is in full operation
(including establishing support organisation etc).
The exact point of time is, of course, not very clear cut.
Upgrading the product, adding more users, extending the use etc. is
not, as I see it, *deployment*.

Hmm, ok. Putting the mechanisms into place to make all that stuff happen
is part of deployment. Actually having them happen is operations.