[Zope] Considerations using Zope

[Paul Winkler]

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.

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com
"Welcome to Muppet Labs, where the future is made - today!"