James Lao

Learning Python

I started teaching myself Python recently because I wanted to enter the realm of desktop application development. The one thing I dislike about PHP is that it is, for the most part, bound to the web; you can’t really use it for anything else. Yes, I know that you can create desktop applications with PHP using PHP-GTK, but who has ever heard of a desktop application written in PHP? There aren’t even any in the applications section of the PHP-GTK site!

So why Python? Well, I wanted a language that is relatively easy to learn and is multipurpose. Python was the obvious choice in my eyes. I figure if it’s good enough for Google, it’s good enough for me. A few of my favorite programs like Juice and Bittorrent were written in Python too. Another impetus to learn Python is Django as I have heard a lot of good things about it. I know I said I wanted to build desktop applications, but I still love web development. Don’t be surprised if this very blog is Django powered soon. Django is meant for rapid application development and if the stories about developers creating sites in minutes are true, then you can bet this blog will be Django powered in the near future.

Posted on February 23, 2007 in Code

Site Redesign

As you can see, things have changed—hopefully for the better. I decided to create that custom site design I had originally planned but couldn’t create due to lack of time. Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the new design. The site is was flexible width and the CSS and XHTML both validate, so I think it’s pretty darn good in terms of accessibility. The original design was flexible width but there wasn’t enough whitespace so I decided to go back to fixed width.

One new thing you might notice is that there are now “sidenotes” (also known as “asides”) in the right most sidebar below the main posts! I’ll post stuff I find interesting there whenever I have time. There’s a special RSS feed for sidenotes too.

The site might appear quirky in some places so bare with me as I do some live debugging. If you notice anything odd please tell me so I can fix it. I have not tested the site on Opera so a thumbs up or a thumbs down from an Opera user would be nice too.

With that said, hope you like the new look. Criticism is welcome so don’t be afraid to leave a comment or two.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Posted on December 29, 2006 in Code