I'd echo Paul's comment under question #7 and copy it under question #4. That is to say, the documentation leaves something to be desired, especially for those wishing to run zope with apache and postgresql (the way, I've been told, to implement a robust server). My $0.02, ken Paul Winkler at 08:17 (UTC-0800) on Mon, 16 Dec 2002 said: = On Mon, Dec 16, 2002 at 03:38:44PM +0100, Dani?l Hooymans wrote: = > 1. Object Orientation = > = > In which ways is the language object oriented en which things are missing from the language. = = python is fully object-oriented... i'll leave the details to the = language lawyers. We don't really have interfaces currently. = = > 2. Server and client objects. = > = > To what extend is it possible to define and use client side objects aside from server components. e.g. Possibility to include/use special tags which automagically instantiate the correct custom control objects. = = there's no automagic for this in zope that I know of. = = > 3. Framework = > = > How diverse is the default library of Objects and methods. (Guess this is more a python thing besides the use of products) = = well, you can't discount the huge number of Products available... = aside from that, the python standard library is excellent, after 3-4 = years I'm still finding new stuff there. = = if that's not enough, there's all the nice powerful 3rd-party libs = like mxDateTime, PIL, NumPy, and Reportlab, all the other stuff = at the Vaults of Parnassus, and nice resources = like the ASPN cookbook. = = > 4. Support = > = > How / howfar is the development platform used by developers. = > Is there a good knowledge base / FAQ's available. = > Are there good / many newsgroups available... ( Hmmmm, depend on response to this message ;-) ) = = this list is excellent, #zope on irc is good, there are also lists for = more specific sub-communities (plone, tal, etc.) = = > 5. 3th party support = > = > Are there extentional development tools available. = = "extentional"? hmm. well there are tools to help zope = work with other tools - e.g. ExternalEditor, and = various hacks for dealing with CVS. = = = > What kind of engines are available. ( python / zope ) = = engines? = = > Are extra components available. If so, which. ( yeah yeah, Zope product database is one) = = some big ones: CMF, Plone, Nuxeo CPS ... = too many others to mention. = = > 6. Cost = > = > What do the essential development tools cost. = > What are the costs to commercially use the development platform. = = NOTHING! = = > 7. Userfriendly = > = > How good is the development platform. = > Are all tools needed available. = > Is the platform intuitive to use. = = the famous zope learning curve is an issue ... = it's quite easy to get through the tutorial and = start putting things together. It can take months = or years to grok the advanced stuff. Then you = can do anything. :) Partly it's a documentation problem. = = > 8. Distribution = > = > What is needed to host a website using the platform. (no need to answer.. zope ??) = = yes, but zserver is not generally considered robust enough for = deploying "bare" on the internet. It is normal to put it behind something - = apache, squid... = = > 9. XML Support = > = > Which tools are available. = = plenty of stuff in the python standard lib. = also zope supports xmlrpc. = = > 10. Developer value = > = > What is the value of a developer having good knowledge of the platform on the jobmarket. = = well, there don't seem to be so many zope jobs around... but = there are correspondingly fewer zope developers to fill them. = It can be hard to find the right opportunity. But e.g. = at my current job I was hired solely because of my zope experience. = = > [11]. What are other pros/cons using Zope / Python as development platform. = > ================================== = = integration with filesystem devel. tools (revision control etc.) = is still problematic. = = scalability of zope is very cool. With ZEO and the various = cacheing strategies, you can serve a LOT of requests and keep building = up with very little work. = =