-----Original Message----- From: Milos Prudek [mailto:prudek@sol.cz] Sent: Friday, March 05, 1999 2:14 PM To: zope@zope.org Subject: [Zope] Python neccessary to work with Zope?

I'm new to Zope. I'm very excited about it's potential, but my first impression is that I will need to master Python in order to use it. I believe Python is an excellent language, but I do not have the time to learn it. Several questions about this:

You do not need to know a single line of Python to use Zope. But learning Python is a pleasure, not a chore.

- Can I achieve anything useful in Zope without touching Python? I can learn DTML, of course.

You can do just about anything with DTML. In fact, most 'Products' (read that, 'Zope Extnesions') are mostly DTML. If your not writing a Product then you can stay entirely in the domain of DTML. DTML does use a small bit of Python in itself, these are called expressions. For example, if you had an integer called num you could use: <!--#var num--> to 'render' it in your web page. To get num + 1 you would use: <!--#var "num + 1"--> The contents of "" is a python expression. But it's not a python program. If we didn't use Python we'd of had to have come up with some other language like way of doing this that you'd have had to learn anyway.

- if so, what I can and what I cannot do without Python?

Python is used for the following: To write Products. This is hard core development. To write External Methods, which are used to hook special or wierd/pre-existing python functions into Zope. This is rarely necesary.

- could I, for instance, do something like slashdot.org without Python?

Yes. There may be a 1% slice of something like slashdot needing a bit of Python. But remember, slashdot is a huge application written entirely in Perl.

- is there a plan to give Zope features (or ready-made modules/factories) that would completely eliminate the need to work with Python (for certain tasks that can be automated or turned into templates)?

Yep. These are called Zope Classes. They are still in-house here at Digital Creations because we are still debugging/figuring them out. A Zope Class lets your create your own objects that can be added into Zope without writing Python code.

-- Milos Prudek

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