6 ms·

Jython 2.7 alpha1 released

69 points by cobrien 14y ago

r4vik 14y ago
excellent news, I thought Jython was dead.
- sigzero 14y ago
  It languished for a while and then new devs rotated in and there was a flurry of work and then it became just steady.
- joshbaptiste 14y ago
  Far from it, Jython devs continue to attend and present at Pycon. Although these days I've been using Groovy lately for my JVM.next() needs.
- cowmix 14y ago
  Jython was frozen in the 2.2.X state for the longest time but then Frank and his team jumped to 2.5.X a few years ago and its has been a modern Python ever since.
chubbard 14y ago
Good to see that this project is still going strong.
kibwen 14y ago
In case any Jython devs are reading this, I'd like to also express my delight that Jython isn't dead. In the next few months I'll be expected to recommend a programming language for a large-scale enterprise project, and while Java--sad to say--seems to be the most responsible choice, I'd like to also have a JVM-compatible scripting language waiting in the wings. Glad to see that I'll have more options to evaluate when the time comes.
- mindcrime 14y ago
  In the next few months I'll be expected to recommend a programming language for a large-scale enterprise project, and while Java--sad to say--seems to be the most responsible choice What about Groovy?
  - kibwen 14y ago
    Maybe, I'm still juggling the options in my head. But when I say enterprise I mean enterprise, with all the pejorative connotations thereof. We are not a nimble startup, we are an enormous, established, very conservative company; I'm just the guy who knows all those newfangled languages. This means that, unless someone can convince me otherwise (and if you can, please, please convince me otherwise), Java seems to possess the correct combination of features: mature platform, wide adoption, familiar syntax, readily-available developers, maintainability by those other than the original authors (Java isn't necessarily great at this, but better than many), and a quality that I'll describe only as hard to really fuck things up too badly. If it wasn't for that last requirement, I'd already be trying to sell Python to my boss; as it stands, if I can't find some really awesome static analysis and verification tools for Python, Java is simply the only choice that my conscience allows me to make. (Corollary: what about .NET? Mostly I'm incredibly wary of recommending a language with only one "blessed" platform, and a proprietary one at that. My bosses are wary of this too: as a result of historical decisions we're currently locked into IBM hardware, writing million-line codebases in RPG-LE. If someone can allay my fears of vendor lock-in (at the hands of no less than Microsoft), perhaps I'll consider it.)
    - bmelton 14y ago
      Having come from that environment, and having been a regular here for some time, I can guess that you have probably made the right decision, and that very few here will probably agree. Also, for what it's worth, I was able to deploy full "Java" applications to the federal government that were completely Jython, and they've worked fairly well. The only concern I ever had was the one of how the customer might maintain such a codebase after our contract ended, but thankfully, that isn't a significant concern as a federal IT consultant, and super-tight deadlines often precluded Java as a viable language, only to see Java as a requirement later in the same RFP - This is where Jython (and its ilk) shine beautifully. Edit: and just so it's said, I agree with your assessment on .Net. People are happy to pay for it, as well as the Microsoft tax, but I almost never saw it as the best option in a heterogeneous environment. It is also appreciably rare to run into an entirely Microsoft infrastructure.
wslh 14y ago
I love Jython! and for me is the best combination of two rich library worlds. I use it mainly for scaping together with htmlunit
JustinJ70s 14y ago
Out of curiosity, anyone know how it's comparing in speed to JRuby? Fantastic work was done on JRuby - you'd hope many of the findings/techniques find their way into Jython.
- fwierzbicki 14y ago
  The Jython team and I collaborate with the JRuby team a fair amount. Some work has begun to use similar techniques in Jython to improve performance, so stay tuned!
pjmlp 14y ago
Many thanks to the Jython developers in case you're reading this.

69 points by cobrien 14y ago

r4vik 14y ago

excellent news, I thought Jython was dead.

sigzero 14y ago
It languished for a while and then new devs rotated in and there was a flurry of work and then it became just steady.
joshbaptiste 14y ago
Far from it, Jython devs continue to attend and present at Pycon. Although these days I've been using Groovy lately for my JVM.next() needs.
cowmix 14y ago
Jython was frozen in the 2.2.X state for the longest time but then Frank and his team jumped to 2.5.X a few years ago and its has been a modern Python ever since.

chubbard 14y ago

Good to see that this project is still going strong.

kibwen 14y ago

In case any Jython devs are reading this, I'd like to also express my delight that Jython isn't dead. In the next few months I'll be expected to recommend a programming language for a large-scale enterprise project, and while Java--sad to say--seems to be the most responsible choice, I'd like to also have a JVM-compatible scripting language waiting in the wings. Glad to see that I'll have more options to evaluate when the time comes.

mindcrime 14y ago
In the next few months I'll be expected to recommend a programming language for a large-scale enterprise project, and while Java--sad to say--seems to be the most responsible choice What about Groovy?
- kibwen 14y ago
  Maybe, I'm still juggling the options in my head. But when I say enterprise I mean enterprise, with all the pejorative connotations thereof. We are not a nimble startup, we are an enormous, established, very conservative company; I'm just the guy who knows all those newfangled languages. This means that, unless someone can convince me otherwise (and if you can, please, please convince me otherwise), Java seems to possess the correct combination of features: mature platform, wide adoption, familiar syntax, readily-available developers, maintainability by those other than the original authors (Java isn't necessarily great at this, but better than many), and a quality that I'll describe only as hard to really fuck things up too badly. If it wasn't for that last requirement, I'd already be trying to sell Python to my boss; as it stands, if I can't find some really awesome static analysis and verification tools for Python, Java is simply the only choice that my conscience allows me to make. (Corollary: what about .NET? Mostly I'm incredibly wary of recommending a language with only one "blessed" platform, and a proprietary one at that. My bosses are wary of this too: as a result of historical decisions we're currently locked into IBM hardware, writing million-line codebases in RPG-LE. If someone can allay my fears of vendor lock-in (at the hands of no less than Microsoft), perhaps I'll consider it.)
  - bmelton 14y ago
    Having come from that environment, and having been a regular here for some time, I can guess that you have probably made the right decision, and that very few here will probably agree. Also, for what it's worth, I was able to deploy full "Java" applications to the federal government that were completely Jython, and they've worked fairly well. The only concern I ever had was the one of how the customer might maintain such a codebase after our contract ended, but thankfully, that isn't a significant concern as a federal IT consultant, and super-tight deadlines often precluded Java as a viable language, only to see Java as a requirement later in the same RFP - This is where Jython (and its ilk) shine beautifully. Edit: and just so it's said, I agree with your assessment on .Net. People are happy to pay for it, as well as the Microsoft tax, but I almost never saw it as the best option in a heterogeneous environment. It is also appreciably rare to run into an entirely Microsoft infrastructure.

wslh 14y ago

I love Jython! and for me is the best combination of two rich library worlds. I use it mainly for scaping together with htmlunit

JustinJ70s 14y ago

Out of curiosity, anyone know how it's comparing in speed to JRuby? Fantastic work was done on JRuby - you'd hope many of the findings/techniques find their way into Jython.

fwierzbicki 14y ago
The Jython team and I collaborate with the JRuby team a fair amount. Some work has begun to use similar techniques in Jython to improve performance, so stay tuned!

pjmlp 14y ago

Many thanks to the Jython developers in case you're reading this.