General Development Archive

RPyC 3.00 Released

RPyC (Remote Python Call) is a transparent and symmetrical python library for remote procedure calls, clustering and distributed-computing. RPyC makes use of object-proxying, a technique that employs python's dynamic nature, to overcome the physical boundaries between processes and computers, so that remote objects can be manipulated as if they were local. Read the tutorial for a thorough overview. This release introduces remote services and capability-based security, which make RPyC an ideal remoting framework.

Tree View Menu Styles in U2 SystemBuilder/XA Apps

The U2 SystemBuilder Extensible Architecture for UniData and Universe (SB/XA) 6.0.0 introduces new application architecture for SystemBuilder applications. One of the features provided by the changes in the architecture is the ability to modify the presentation of your applications without modifying the underlying business logic. In this article, learn how to present a traditional SystemBuilder menu as a Tree View menu.

C++0x Gets Finalised

The proposed new standard for the C++ programming language, C++0x, has reached feature completeness. "This is 'it', feature-complete C++0x, including the major feature of 'concepts' which had its own extensive set of papers for language and library extensions (if you get the impression that concepts is a big feature, well, it is indeed easily the biggest addition we made in C++0x)."

10 Forces Guiding the Future of Scripting

Peter Wayner examines the platforms and passions underlying today's popular dynamic languages, and though JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Groovy, and other scripting tools are fast achieving the critical mass necessary to flourish into the future, 10 forces in particular appear to be driving the evolution of this development domain. From the co-optation of successful ideas across languages, to the infusion of application development into applications that are fast evolving beyond their traditional purpose, to the rise of frameworks, the cloud, and amateur code enablers, each will have a profound effect on the future of today's dynamic development tools.

C++: The Ugly Useful Programming Language

Eric Raymond is working on an essay, putatively titled "Why C++ Is Not My Favorite Programming Language". In his announcement, he calls it "an overcomplexity generator", "bloated, obfuscated, unwieldy, rigid, and brittle", and alleges that these characteristics appear in C++ applications also. I contend that many of the complaints about C++ are petty or are aimed at specific libraries or poor documentation and that many of the features commonly regarded as unnecessary (and excluded from intended replacements) are, in fact, highly useful. C++: the Ugly Useful Programming Language

Python 2.6 Released

Python 2.6 has been released on October 1st. The major theme of this release is preparing the migration path to Python 3.0, a major redesign of the language. Whenever possible, Python 2.6 incorporates new features and syntax from 3.0 while remaining compatible with existing code by not removing older features or syntax. See the what's new docs for more details.

The A-Z of Programming Languages: C#

Microsoft's leader of C# development, writer of the Turbo Pascal system, and lead architect on the Delphi language, Anders Hejlsberg, reveals all there is to know on the history, inspiration, uses and future direction of one of computer programming's most widely used languages - C#. Hejlsberg also offers some insight into the upcoming version of C# (C#4) and the new language F#, as well as what lies ahead in the world of functional programming.

Bringing Desktop Applications to the Browser

jQuery is emerging as the JavaScript library of choice for developers looking to ease their creation of dynamic Rich Internet Applications. As browser-based applications continue to replace desktop applications, the use of these libraries will only continue to grow. See jQuery in action, its easy syntax, how to use jQuery correctly in your own JavaScript code in your browser app, and how to avoid any pitfalls when using it with other libraries.

KornShell 93 Auditing

Over at one of IBM's many developer websites, there's an article on new features of the Korn Shell. "New features of the Korn Shell provide system administrators and management with the ability to monitor, track, record, and audit every command executed by any user of a system. This is different from the normal shell history, and provides detailed information that includes date, time, tty, user, and the command. This information can be stored locally or transmitted in real time to a remote logging system."

The State of the Language: An Interview with Bjarne Stroustrup

DevX interviewed Bjarne Stroustrup about C++0x, the new C++ standard that is due in 2009. Bjarne Stroustrup has classified the new features into three categories Concurrency, Libraries and Language. The changes introduced in the Concurrency makes C++ more standardized and easy to use on multi-core processors. It is good to see that some of the commonly used libraries are becoming standard (eg: unordered_maps and regex).

Tcl/Tk Gets Makeover

You thought Tcl/Tk stands for 'obsolete GUI'? You define the looks of Tk as 'prehistoric'? Or do you visualize ugly interfaces when reading this? I certainly do. Mats Bengtsson writes: "Tcl's windowing toolkit, Tk, has been 'known' to be ugly and outdated. With the 8.5 release last December the tile package, now named ttk (Themed Tk), is included in the core which brings true native widgets on Windows (yes, Vista too) and Mac." But what about Linux? Mats points at tileqt and the new tilegtk and notes: "Imagine that you can switch theme, and toolkits, on the fly without any program restart." Finally, he mentions progresses in both tkpath and support for WebKit. He concludes: "When all this comes together it will make Tk a very competitive toolkit."

PHP 4 is Dead, Long Live PHP 4

For a technology that has been in stable release since May 22, 2000, PHP 4 has finally reached the end of its official life. With the release of PHP 4.4.9, official support has ended and the final security patch for the platform issued. With PHP 5 offering a viable upgrade path for the last few years, the recommendation is for addministrators and developers is to move to the PHP 5 platform (if they haven't already done so), which is currently at 5.2.6. For those who are not able to migrate their systems to the new version of PHP noted PHP security expert, Stefan Esser, will continue to provide third party security patching for the PHP 4 line through his Suhosin product.