IronPython in Action News

Lawrence Oluyede is a Python developer who used to do C# development and has also used IronPython. He has been reviewing IronPython in Action, and has posted summaries of all fifteen chapters in Italian as he has read them. You can read all of his summaries from here.

He has now written a review in English. This also summarises the chapters, but is not as long as the Italian entries!

• IronPython in Action Book Review

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to read Michael Foord’s upcoming book: IronPython in Action and let me say that I found it extremely interesting, and I suggest it to everybody needing (or wanting) to work with .NET from a dynamic perspective or to .NET developers interested in the world out there.

The book covers a lot of ground, sometimes deeply, sometimes just in the surface but it seems to talk about everything there’s to know to make that ground solid enough to build something lasting.

From the Python introduction to IronPython extension, from IronPython embedding to XML, Visual Studio, testing, metaprogramming, Windows Presentation Foundation (the .NET new UI), system administration, ASP.NET, databases, Silverlight and much more.

His conclusions:

I personally found the book very enlightening and there’s much of interesting stuff in there for both Python and .NET developers. I guess it’s the first book on IronPython and anyway it’s a must have for everyone who needs to work on .NET.

It shows there are some unpolished parts with the integration and some differences between CPython and IronPython behavior but it can only become better in the future.

Since starting this small 'project' (which has now taken two years), one of my favorite sayings has become this one from Douglas Adams: I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.

All frivolity aside IronPython in Action is now in the final stages of copy-editing, and we have had the latest set of deadlines from Manning:

• Jan 16 Copyedit and tech edit of all chapters complete
• Jan 20 All Graphics, Appendixes and Front Matter posted in Gregor
• Jan 30 Appendixes edited; Proofread of all chapters complete
• Feb 03 Proofread of front and back matter complete.
• Feb 06 Layout complete
• Feb 13 QA complete
• Feb 16 To Press
• Feb 20 Ebook release

The printing takes three weeks, shipping another week or two, so it will be another 4-5 weeks (after going to press) before books start to appear in shops and on Amazon. They will be available for sale on the Manning site around March 6th, as Manning get their books directly from the bindery.

Craig Murphy has just posted an in-depth review of IronPython in Action. It's quite a long and detailed review, but thankfully he likes the book and recommends it:

• Book Review: IronPython In Action, Michael Foord and Christian Muirhead

During 2008, dynamic languages picked up a lot of momentum. Indeed, in IronPython In Action, Foord and Muirhead describe this momentum somewhat amusingly: “dynamic languages are trendy; all the alpha-geeks are using them!” With what is the largest known IronPython codebase forming a large part of their careers, the authors are well-placed to provide us with accurate and authorative information coupled with practical code examples.

He goes on to give a brief summary of each chapter along with his thoughts. Craig particularly likes chapter 15 on embedding IronPython, which is also one of my favourite chapters: "if you are searching for the Holy Grail that is an extensible application architecture, you need this book for chapter 15 alone".

Craig is a .NET developer who helps organise a lot of community events in the UK and Scotland. We're grateful for the time and effort he has put into the review.

Meanwhile Lawrence Oluyede has continued summarizing in Italian. He's now up to chapter 8: metaprogamming and .NET interoperation.

A while ago Cal Schrotenboer contacted me about an article on dynamic languages and Silverlight. He used chapter 13 of IronPython in Action for research, and its nice to finally see the article published:

• RIA Applications For Python and Ruby Developers—Made Possible With Silverlight 2

If you're a Python or Ruby fan, you may feel you're missing out on all the latest developments in Rich Internet Applications. With support for Python and Ruby in Microsoft® Silverlight™ 2, dynamic language developers now have easy access to the latest RIA technologies.