[ZDP] A Parallel Intro to Zope/Python/OO for Developers

[Loren Stafford]

Tom Deprez, et al.

I, like similar to you, am struggling to develop my first Zope products.
Also like you and many others, tho I know programming and the web, I know it
from a different point of view (in my case Perl/CGI).

I see the need for a document different from any other that exists (that I
know of), that guides the experienced programmer thru the confusing task of
learning Python AND Zope AND OO AND persistent programming all at once (or
in parallel) toward the goal of becoming a capable Zope programmer. It might
be titled "A Parallel Intro to Zope/Python/OO for Developers".

I'm taking mental notes as I go along about the content of this document.
For example:

1. Zope source. Explain the structure of Zope source. At the same time
explain (or point to) the Python documentation on modules, packages,
namespaces, etc. (e.g. http://www.python.org/doc/current/tut/node8.html)

2. Persistence. Start with the Python examples of persistent objects
(there's a good discussion in Lutz, Programming Python), then develop to the
full Zope concept of persistence. Pointers to literature and research on
persistence.

3. OO programming. Emphasize the special method names of Python
(http://www.python.org/doc/current/ref/specialnames.html), then show how
these are used by Zope to (more or less transparently) implement
persistence. It's the less transparent parts that the newbie developer
stumbles over.

4. Debugging.

...etc.

I bring this up in the hopes that you and others can determine how to best
work this kind of info into the scope of ZDP. I see it as a separate
document, but a "glue" doc -- one that contains lots of pointers into
existing (or soon to exist) documents, glueing Python, Zoope and persistent
OO together.

What do you think?

 -- Loren