The "standard" console mode of Python (ie, the Python you all know
and love) only works on Windows NT, but the GUI version works on all
the platforms above.
Python itself is built as a DLL. Python.exe is very small, and only
contains the main() program. This port also supports dynamically loading
extension modules as DLL's. socketmodule is supplied as a DLL.
The GUI version consists mainly of a GUI framework. The functionality of
the interpreter environment, and all the editing etc functions are
actually built in Python code.
The GUI has support for editing files, jumping to an error line in a
source file, an indenting editor, etc etc etc (all built in Python code!)
so you may find this a productive development environment for Python,
regardless of where you will be targetting your final code.
Unfortunately, there is basically no support for the debugger etc, but
hopefully this will come soon. Another limitation is no support for
raw_input() type functions. (These limitations are only on the GUI
version, not in the standard, totally C based "console" version)
The GUI framework itself has been built using the Microsoft Foundation
Classes, and the work has been to expose the MFC functionality to Python.
The GUI framework has the concept of documents, views, windows, dialogs
etc. Much work has also been done (by Dave Brennan (brennan@hal.com))
to expose many drawing related functions to Python. Python code can now
manipulate fonts, and perform drawing operations in a Window etc.
Please keep in mind that we are still madly working on this stuff, so
the GUI stuff is not particularly stable at this point (ie, new features
are coming, and we are sometimes rethinking existing implementation),
but feel free to grab the stuff comment on it, and especially offer
to contribute :-) Comments via this group are welcome (as most people
using it read this group) or EMail is fine.
You will find binaries and source code in the python/nt directory on
cwi. There is a readme in this directory that will explain the various
files. In the future, I hope to make the distribution files a bit
more logical, but for now you will need to grab a number of files.
If you do grab this, and intend using it, please let me know.
Enjoy!
Mark.
PS: Thanks to Guido for the support he has offered during the port, and
the enthusiasm with which he accepts platform specific source changes
to be integrated into the official Python distribution!