Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#1

Post by simplyJump » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:10 PM UTC

I like python and consider myself at beginner level. I've never contributed to an open source project, hence not sure how things go. But want to start now.

Need some advice on the below points -

1.) What are the projects available at my level. If you know one from the top of your head, great !

2.) Apart from my own interest (algorithms, frameworks, monitoring systems). What should I be looking for in an open source project ?

I checked github, the number of projects out there are huge, to say the least. Need something to start/get my feet wet, then I can dive full force in a month.

Thanks for any suggestions you have.

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#2

Post by gomer » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:19 PM UTC

Twisted seems like a good option. Here is a good question on stackoverflow with some comments: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/117561/what-are-good-open... Although, you should try to find something you have a personal interest in as well.

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#3

Post by aspir » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:21 PM UTC

I'm learning python as well and would benefit from an answer to this question. A friend suggested building a web scraper, which sounds reasonable, but I'd also want to work on a larger endeavor (but not too big).

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#4

Post by Wolf_Larsen » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:24 PM UTC

gomer wrote: post #2

Twisted seems like a good option. Here is a good question on stackoverflow with some comments: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/117561/what-are-good-open... Although, you should try to find something you have a personal interest in as well.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

"First, Twisted should be fun. It began as a game, it is being used commercially in games, and it will be, I hope, an interactive and entertaining experience for the end-user."

"Twisted is a platform for developing internet applications...Twisted is a good (if somewhat idiosyncratic) pure-python framework or library, depending on how you treat it, and it continues to improve."

"As a platform, Twisted should be focused on integration. Ideally, all functionality will be accessible through all protocols. Failing that, all functionality should be configurable through at least one protocol, with a seamless and consistent user-interface."

- http://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/core/howto/vision...

SUCCESS STORIES

"Lucasfilm has used Twisted in its business-critical production processes since 2004...We use Twisted to proxy database connections for our render farm, which runs 24/7/365."

"Justin.tv is the largest live video site on the internet. We allow anyone to broadcast live video from their PC and chat with viewers. Every second of every broadcast is archived so it can later be browsed, searched, or made into highlight clips.

Each of Justin.tv's half a billion monthly pageviews passes through a custom Twisted caching engine."

http://twistedmatrix.com/trac/wiki/SuccessStories

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#5

Post by jolan » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:32 PM UTC

Work on an open source project that you actually use so you have some motivation to improve the codebase and know what improvements to make.

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#6

Post by dho » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:34 PM UTC

PyPy is looking for contributors: http://morepypy.blogspot.com/2011/01/pypy-wants-you.html (via http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2127461)

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#7

Post by japherwocky » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:36 PM UTC

gomer wrote: post #2

Twisted seems like a good option. Here is a good question on stackoverflow with some comments: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/117561/what-are-good-open... Although, you should try to find something you have a personal interest in as well.

Twisted is kind of notorious for being difficult to pick up and use, even for experienced Python programmers..

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#8

Post by japherwocky » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:39 PM UTC

http://github.com/facebook/tornado is a pretty simple, useful project. You could set up ab and try to make it faster!

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#9

Post by Sargis » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:49 PM UTC

I'd like to learn more about HTTP, web servers, etc... Which open source project should I start with?

Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer

#10

Post by kingsidharth » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:52 PM UTC

Sargis wrote: post #9

I'd like to learn more about HTTP, web servers, etc... Which open source project should I start with?

Django? Flask?