[Pythoncard-users] six blind men describe the beast

For inspiration...
  http://www.wordfocus.com/word-act-blindmen.html

It has been a while since we had the "what is it?" discussion. I didn't list
everything and some people will/should object to some of the statements
below, so go ahead and throw in your two cents (or possibly a hong kong
dollars worth). Maybe we'll put the results up on the web site and keep it
up-to-date as the project progresses so our goals are clear.

ka
---

built with Python

uses Python for the scripting language

suitable for people just learning Python

the primary focus is on small and simple
    GUI programs written by one person or at most a few people,
    not a team working on a large six-month or multi-year project.

if simple programs are not simple to create and maintain we've failed.

simple yet powerful enough for people familiar with HyperCard,
    Visual Basic, SuperCard, Revolution, and other assorted
    HyperCard "clones"
    PythonCard should be a viable alternative to proprietary
    languages and application builders.

is cross-platform supporting at least the major OS platforms:
    Windows (95/98 and above), Linux (GTK), Mac (at least OS X)

uses wxPython as the cross-platform GUI toolkit
    simplifies writing wxPython programs

does not preclude the creation of OS-specific applications

is not designed to run inside a web browser

establishes naming and coding conventions to make programming
    GUI applications more pythonic, easier to read and write
    for example, the handler names such as on_btn1_mouseClick

make it simple to change and reuse parts of PythonCard apps

separate resources/layouts from source, but also support
    defining layouts in code for dynamic layouts

provides built-in classes, methods, and functions for tasks
    common to GUI applications that is not provided in the
    Python Standard Libraries, wxPython, or a common Python
    library such as Python Imaging Library (PIL) or NumPy

should be a complete replacement of tkinter for those wanting
    to program GUIs with Python

open source

uses the Python license or a rough equivalent, not GPL, so there
    is the possibility of commercial applications, components, etc.

supports simple builds of standalone executables using py2exe
    and/or Gordon McMillan's installer

component architecture to support more than just wxPython controls
    including compound components. PythonCard components are
    roughly analogous to COM and JavaBeans

does not force the use of Model View Controller (MVC) on user code

the cross-platform aspect means that it won't have the same
    capabilities as an OS-specific app/framework that can take
    advantage of platform-specific code. in particular, there
    is no support for QuickTime, Real, Windows Media Format, MPEG,
    MP3s, etc. in some cases, you can do platform-specific apps
    using these technologies. you are not going to be able to do
    all the things you could do say with Flash, at least not in the
    near future.

as wxWindows/wxPython improves, so will the capabilities of
   PythonCard

support editing programs in standard editors (vi, vim, emacs,
   PythonWin, IDLE, etc.) and not be forced to edit in and IDE