[Twisted-Python] Random Thinking

[Moshe Zadka]

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003, Omar Kilani <ok at mailcall.com.au> wrote:

> I understand that SSL doesn't make something secure. I just ment does it
> encrypt the data in some way? Etc. I actually just wanted a method of
> determining that the machine is who it says it is. And SSL solves that
> problem nicely (or some form of PKI.)

Then why not say what you mean. "I need to cryptographically ascertain
identities". Yes, SSL is decent for that. But Twisted developers (try to)
use terminology correctly. When we say secure, we mean "cannot be compromised
[as far as we know]".
 
> OK. I don't really mean "multicast".

Again, try to use the terminology everybody else does. Or, at least,
invent your own words which lack any pre-assumed meanings. Otherwise,
you'll run the risk of people replying to questions you didn't ask.

> Can I do this efficiently? Is there a need to even worry about it?

You should never worry about efficiency before you have proof you
need it. Did nobody quote Knuth at you?

> Should I just:
> 
> for connect in connects:
> 	connect.callRemote(...)

That looks sane.

> I'll try. I don't know how else to describe them. :-)

"peers"

> What I really meant was: can I callRemote from the initial object
> reference provider to the ... "client"?

Perspective Broker is fully symmetric, but needs objects.
If you do that, you probably actually want perspectives -- and the
answer is yes, it is possible to have that abstraction.

> OK. What I really meant (hehe) was: Is the GTK2 reactor code stable?

It runs the tests, but nobody is using it for production applications,
as far as I know.

> Should I be aware of any surprises it might present?

Hopefully, not.

> Are there examples of usage?
> Is calling gtk2reactor.install() all I need to do?

NO!
What you should do is write an Application, and then use
% twistd --reactor gtk2 -n -y yourapplication.tpy
There is absolutely no need for any of your code to access the
gtk2reactor module. Of course, your code may not run correctly
without it -- for example, opening windows will probably not work.
But that is still no excuse for any of your code to manually import
gtk2reactor, and risk it being too late.

In general, note that Twisted is properly modularized so that
you *can* do stuff like gtk2reactor.install(). But you shouldn't:
you should use the official blessed way to do it. Just assume
we have an official blessed way for a reason, and even if there's
no reason, you don't want idiosyncracies in your code. Code with
fingerprints on it is no better than glass with fingerprints on it.

-- 
Moshe Zadka -- http://moshez.org/
Buffy: I don't like you hanging out with someone that... short.
Riley: Yeah, a lot of young people nowadays are experimenting with shortness.
Agile Programming Language -- http://www.python.org/