I'd like to learn more about HTTP, web servers, etc... Which open source project should I start with?
Django? Flask?
I think Django would be too complicated for me. Hadn't thought about Flask before. Thanks!
Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
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Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#12Twisted 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..
Twisted has always seemed like its own ideology altogether. Not that this is inherently bad per se, just that it might make approaching it a little more difficult.
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#13Find a project that you already use or that you like that supports plugins.
Write one plugin and learn by looking at other plugins.
On the top of my head: deluge (bittorrent client) emesene (MSN client) XBMC (media center)
If you're a Gnome user, most applications support Python plugin (Nautilus, GEdit, ...)
Shameless plug on my part, you could make a plugin for my open source project called periscope. It downloads video subtitles from various websites http://code.google.com/p/periscope/
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#14The way I started out was contributing small patches to the Reddit (social news website) code base. The source code can be pretty daunting at first, but once you spend some time with it then it's pretty easy to learn.
Reddit has several of your interests in common. Algorithms regarding voting, built on the the Pylons framework, monitoring systems to make sure the services are up and running. For me, as someone who is still relatively new to Python, Reddit has a good combination of technology I know about and technology I want to learn about. I'd really recommend checking it out.
There are also subreddits such as http://www.reddit.com/r/bugs and http://www.reddit.com/r/ideasfortheadmins that can give you an idea for features, suggest bugs that may need fixing or even just enhancement requests.
Provided that you're nice, the community is very welcoming and open. The admins are all fantastic guys, as well, which is a real bonus.
http://code.reddit.com/ - take a look.
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#15I am interested in contact/list management-type projects based on Python. Does anyone know of one?
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#16You could subscribe to the project's mailing list or join the IRC channel and answer any questions that newbies have. This is probably a softer introduction to contributing to an open source project than committing code.
For example, I know the Django mailing list is pretty active and there are a lot of questions that can be answered.
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#17Find a project that you already use or that you like that supports plugins. Write one plugin and learn by looking at other plugins. On the top of my head: deluge (bittorrent client) emesene (MSN client) XBMC (media center) If you're a Gnome user, most applications support Python plugin (Nautilus, GEdit, ...) Shameless plug on my part, you could make a plugin for my open source project called periscope. It downloads v…
This also is a pretty good idea. I know django supports plugins. I've written some for my site.
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#18PyPy is looking for contributors: http://morepypy.blogspot.com/2011/01/pypy-wants-you.html (via http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2127461 )
This sounds interesting. Thanks
For others in my boat, who didn't know what exactly pypy was -http://rayli.net/blog/2010/04/what-is-the-purpose-of-pypy/
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Django? Flask?
I think Django would be too complicated for me. Hadn't thought about Flask before. Thanks!
I've had great experiences with the django source code. It is very readable, well-commented, and has tests for everything.
I'd suggest reading the tests for django.forms, and then reading the source code. From there, one can then dive into other sections of django.
Re: Ask HN : Which opensource project for beginner python developer
#20libcloud - a unified interface into the cloud - http://incubator.apache.org/libcloud/
Since you're into monitoring, check out what we're up to - https://github.com/cloudkick/