In this tutorial I am going to give you a gentle introduction to network programming in Python. If you are new to programming or new to Python then that may seem like a daunting thought. But read on and you will be pleasantly surprised how easy it is.

Like most modern programming languages, Python was designed for networking from the very beginning, and thanks to that, a lot of the networking tasks you would want to accomplish with the language are made a whole lot easier.

Network communication is a large topic, but if it is something that interests you then read on because in this tutorial I will show you how to download a web page. I will show you how easy Python makes tasks like this.

Take a look at the following code:

import urllib
	
con = urllib.urlopen("http://hartmannsoftware.com")
page = con.read()
con.close()
print page

There are many excellent opportunities for IT professionals to present themselves to corporate entities for future consulting positions. You can find yourself in your next consulting engagement if you are willing to combine your IT skill-set, a good amount of corporate research and a bit of old fashioned moxie. Contrary to popular practice for applying for jobs through placement agencies and recruiters, it’s possible to meet with hiring managers, representing your firm, you, directly.

Although recruiters may not take a fee directly from you, the fact that they charge a fee for their services to a company after your placement may keep them from being able to place you. On the other hand, corporations searching for individuals with advanced knowledge of IT functions cannot rely on the friends and family of current employees to find superior consults in all fields.

What are some other options? First take the time to research corporations you would like to consult with. Look for the ones that most likely are complementary to your area of expertise because of the goods they produce or the services they provide to the public. Or you may opt to choose a company that is geographically close to where you live for the convenience of a short daily commute.  

Another way to find your next consulting job is to actively scan the news and see what corporations are making waves within their individual marketplaces. This is a good indicator of possible expansion and the need to hire on a contractual basis. Another good indicator of a need for IT professionals is a mention of a company relocation or expansion. Growth or renovation of office environments is often accompanied by a modernization of IT systems. Current IT team members may not be relocating or might not be familiar with systems other than the ones they already service.

Do as much research as possible about each corporation from their own websites and other sources dedicated to their particular field of endeavor. This gives you the edge in being able to speak about the IT systems they already have in place or your ideas for adapting their line of work or new product with the use of an IT system advancement. Their websites will often have a list of their corporate management. Make sure you address your cover-letter and resume to not only the Director of Human Resources, but to all executives in charge of their IT departments. Be specific in your abilities and the fact that you can be flexible with hiring arrangements.

Attend job fairs that have an emphasis on the more technical fields. When possible, also circulate your resume both digitally and in paper format to smaller and mid-sized companies. These corporations may not be able to maintain their own full-time IT group for fiscal reasons and your consulting prowess may be able to “save the day” for them in an emergency. You can become part of a corporate team on your own; all it takes is additional work on your part. However after your consultant job placement, you will be pleased that your efforts have succeeded so well.

Writing Python in Java syntax is possible with a semi-automatic tool. Programming code translation tools pick up about 75% of dynamically typed language. Conversion of Python to a statically typed language like Java requires some manual translation. The modern Java IDE can be used to infer local variable type definitions for each class attribute and local variable.


Translation of Syntax
Both Python and Java are OO imperative languages with sizable syntax constructs. Python is larger, and more competent for functional programming concepts. Using the source translator tool, parsing of the original Python source language will allow for construction of an Abstract Source Tree (AST), followed by conversion of the AST to Java.

Python will parse itself. This capability is exhibited in the ast module, which includes skeleton classes. The latter can be expanded to parse and source each node of an AST. Extension of the ast.NodeVisitor class enables python syntax constructs to be customized using translate.py and parser.py coding structure.

The Concrete Syntax Tree (CST) for Java is based on visit to the AST. Java string templates can be output at AST nodes with visitor.py code. Comment blocks are not retained by the Python ast Parser. Conversion of Python to multi-line string constructs with the translator reduces time to script.


Scripting Python Type Inference in Java
Programmers using Python source know that the language does not contain type information. The fact that Python is a dynamic type language means object type is determined at run time. Python is also not enforced at compile time, as the source is not specified. Runtime type information of an object can be determined by inspecting the __class__.__name__ attribute.

Python’s inspect module is used for constructing profilers and debugging.
Implementation of def traceit (frame, event, arg) method in Python, and connecting it to the interpreter with sys.settrace (traceit) allows for integration of multiple events during application runtime.

Method call events prompt inspect and indexing of runtime type. Inspection of all method arguments can be conducted. By running the application profiler and exercising the code, captured trace files for each source file can be modified with the translator. Generating method syntax can be done with the translator by search and addition of type information. Results in set or returned variables disseminate the dynamic code in static taxonomy.

The final step in the Python to Java scrip integration is to administer unsupported concepts such as value object creation. There is also the task of porting library client code, for reproduction in Java equivalents. Java API stubs can be created to account for Python APIs. Once converted to Java the final clean-up of the script is far easier.

Related:

 What Are The 10 Most Famous Software Programs Written in Python?

Python, a Zen Poem

The short answer is, yes and no. It depends upon who you are. The purpose of this entry is to help you determine, yes or no.

Full disclosure. This entry is created on a Mac mini. And doing so on Windows 8 (Release Preview). If you are a developer, in my humble opinion you need to test on all platforms you expect your app to run or you are not much of a developer.

To be successful you need to leave politics in geographical territory known as Washington DC. My definition of that is: 14 mi.² of real estate surrounded by reality.

Only in politics can we afford to take sides. Those of us in IT, especially developers need to do our best to be all things to all people. Certainly this is a technical impossibility. However in our game we can get some points for at least being serviceable if not outstanding.