Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Object-oriented problem-solving with Python -- Comment()
I polished a bit my Python code for solving the Einstein's Riddle. I wrote a four-page article in Finnish on this problem using the title object-oriented problem-solving with Python. Two colleagues read the article, with encouraging comments. Not too bad for a beginning Python programmer. But on the other hand, my Python style is still fortranish, perhaps also because I'm a physicist by training.

I'm writing reviews of two Python books for a Finnish IT magazine to introduce Python to a larger audience in Finland. The books I selected are Practical Python and Python in a Nutshell. Furthermore, Apress promised to send a review copy of Dive into Python, when the book appears in August. Thus I can make a follow-up Python book review for another issue of the magazine.

One thing which I have been thinking about is what would be the best Python tool for making high-quality (2D) graphical illustrations. Vector graphics would be preferred, and the possibility to print or to save in PDF format the graphics shown on screen. An example of what I'm thinking about is the illustration on the cover of my Fortran 90/95 textbook (see below).

Update: I managed to do what I wanted in Python. I used Tkinter and the graphics.py module. Thus I can view the picture on screen and get a printout in PostScript. And I can use pstopdf to get a PDF picture. Here is an example, converted to jpg:

And here is the cover picture of my Fortran 90/95 textbook:

Update: There is a recipe for making mazes on the net. (Output in HTML table format is a nice idea.) The algorithm looks similar to mine, but the implementation is different. Probably these both are based on the same original source. Mine was originally based on a Pascal version, which I then implemented in Fortran 90/95 for my textbook, and now converted to Python.

A column on security and privacy -- Comment()
I wrote a column for a Finnish IT magazine, discussing the history of computer security (and cryptography), writing a few notes about privacy and copyrights (including Creative Commons). In the column I pointed to Alan Turing, who was instrumental in the British war effort by helping to break the German Enigma messages. At the same time, the British code-breaking machine Colossus was paving the way for the modern computer. In fact, Colossus was recently re-built for commemorating the D-Day.