[Zope] data point on ease of learning Zope -- I give up.

[Curtis Maloney]

On Fri,  2 Mar 2001 08:59, zooko@zooko.com wrote:
> Hi Zopesters!
>
>
>
>
> It is now about 3 hours later and I have not yet found any "example
> code" or instructions that shows how to set up a basic web site or how
> to write Python code that gets executed, CGI-style, in response to an
> HTTP transaction.  I browsed zope.org, the ZDP, and a site called

Why on earth would you want to do CGI when you have Zope?  The whole point of 
Zope is to supercede CGI, I thought.  Zope changes the paradigm from "run 
this script" to "invoke this method of this object".

> "ZopeNewbies".  I looked at the "QuickStart" that came with the zope
> server, but all I saw was how to edit web pages using DTML.  I don't
> want to have anything to do with DTML (though we use it in my product,
> Mojo Nation[2], which BTW is probably the second-biggest open source
> Python app, after Zope), and I don't want to edit any static pages, so
> I stopped reading the "QuickStart".
>

Your mistake.  DTML is the quickest way to get simple, dynamic pages 
happening.  I know I had some functional stuff happening within 10 minutes, 
and I had no Python experience at all.

Looking at what you said you had to do, and recallign the HowTos and Tips I 
have seen on the Zope.org site, I think you could have had something close to 
what you wanted within 1 or 2 hours, including learning curve.

>
> So now I give up.  I'm going to install apache (`apt-get install
> apache'), and use the Python bsddb module for a simple dict-like
> database.
>
>
> Even though I wasted about half of my scheduled time on trying to set
> up a basic Zope server, I'll probably still have my prototype up and
> running 3 hours from now, when I have a meeting with my co-workers.
>

A couple of recommendations:

1) Be open to learn new things.

It seems to me you have come at this problem with a bent to use old style 
solutions (like CGI) with new style tools.  If you think about this for a 
couple of seconds, you will see this is just absurd.

2) Learn how to search.

There are well over a hundred documents on Zope.org, conveniently catalogued 
and indexed, containing help and examples on doing all sorts of things!  I 
know people from a Perl background wouldn't agree, but perhaps the guys at DC 
have made this info TOO easy to find?

>
> Regards,
>
> Zooko
>
> [1]  apt-get is the app that implements Debian's package management
>      system.
>
> [2]  http://mojonation.net/
>


Have a better one,
	Curtis Maloney