Google's Go Programming Language

Google just announced the release of a new, open sourced programming language called Go. The language is experimental, but attempts to combines the performance of C with the development speed of Python. From their blog:

"Go attempts to combine the development speed of working in a dynamic language like Python with the performance and safety of a compiled language like C or C++. In our experiments with Go to date, typical builds feel instantaneous; even large binaries compile in just a few seconds. And the compiled code runs close to the speed of C. Go is designed to let you move fast.

We’re hoping Go turns out to be a great language for systems programming with support for multi-processing and a fresh and lightweight take on object-oriented design, with some cool features like true closures and reflection."

Check out their site, golang.org, for more.

Erhan J. Kartaltepe, PMP
erhan.kartaltepe-at-utsa.edu

Edify Friday: Python and .NET Interoperability

At the Institute for Cyber Security, we use develop mobile applications and use Python and .NET Framework for our startups in incubation or in‐house projects, and every once in a while, we need to have them interoperate.

Today's Edify Friday covers how simple it is to use .NET code, either in the framework or in-house, in a Python application. It makes use of the Python ctypes library, allowing one to call functions in DLLs. In the example we walkthrough, we call the MessageBoxA function from WinDLL.

First, we "import" the libraries and Windows types we need. The function prototype WINFUNCTYPE is Windows-only; there are others for Python and C. Next,for ease of use, we're going to create a prototype of the MessageBoxA function, where the first parameter is the return type (MessageBoxA returns an integer) and the remaining parameters mirror MessageBoxA's parameters.

After we create the prototype, we can set named parameters in the usual Python style, giving default values for them if we like. Finally, we'll save this prototype to a variable (think delegates from .NET) we call MessageBox, giving it the class MessaBoxA belongs to, and its parameters.

The example below puts it all together in Python 3.1:

Figure 1: Windows Message Box in Python

Got a topic that you'd like to see covered in Edify Friday? Leave a comment below or email me!

Erhan J. Kartaltepe,
erhan.kartaltepe-at-utsa.edu

IronRuby and IronPython--What Dynamic Languages Have Wrought

Earlier this week, version 0.9 of IronRuby was released, the last beta before the final 1.0 version. About two weeks before that, the IronPython project released its feature complete 2.6 beta of the most widely used version of Python. The "iron" prefix implies that these languages are meant to execute on the .NET runtime and interoperate with the .NET framework and classes.

At the Institute for Cyber Security, dynamic languages such as Python and Ruby are used in a wide variety of projects, and the .NET framework, along with Java, a mainstay for our developers and architects working on desktop, service, and web applications. While dynamic languages have moved into the .NET and Java frameworks through new languages or features, it's more in line with .NET's paradigm to have any languages run and interoperate on the same VM (as languages such as NetCOBOL would attest to). With the recent envelope-pushing of modern dynamic languages into the .NET framework, and to a degree in Java, it'll be interesting to see what the next few years has in store for both natural competitors.

Erhan J. Kartaltepe,
erhan.kartaltepe-at-utsa.edu

Python 3.0 and JavaFx 1.0 Released Today

This morning, Python announced the much anticipated release of Python 3.0. While I'm not a huge Python guru, I have been looking forward to its official release, since it cleans up some archaic remnants of older iterations and standardized its syntax. A great set of documentation is available, including beginner's tutorials and language reference. Scripting languages like Python and PHP are in heavy use at the Institute for Cyber Security, and bold releases like this bolster mainstream support for them.

Hot on its heels, Sun announced the release of JavaFx. Some JavaFx tutorials are available. Much of the work at the ICS includes client-side software meant to run within a browser, and uses technologies such as JavaScript, Flash/Flex, and Silverlight daily. Sun's Java applets are perhaps an unfair callback, but the idea of a Java program, complete with Swing and other GUI components, running in the user's browser is very much alive in JavaFx. Hopefully Sun has better luck this go around, while simultaneously providing Adobe and Microsoft with some competition.

Erhan J. Kartaltepe,
erhan.kartaltepe-at-utsa.edu