Python for iOS | Hacker News Reader

Python for iOS

itunes.apple.com

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I saw the 'apple.com' domain and almost jumped out of my seat. I thought it was something official from Apple.

Same :(

Come to BlackBerry 10/PlayBook. We have Python 3.2 native on there, and you can build apps using it.

http://blackberry-py.microcode.ca/

For another few months, at least

And how many users are on that platform?

Seriously, I admire the effort but nobody's going to a dead-duck platform.

Though I do agree about BlackBerrys consumer prospects, any business with a few thousand deployments will probably be interested. Python+Qt look like a nice combination for rapid 'app' development.

We've been working on the PySide port for a month now, and it still has some issues. Overall though, it's quite usable and capable of creating full-fledged apps with.

You should check out our samples. They're a bit crude right now, but hopefully they'll highlight what is and will be possible.

Meh. You have your opinions, I have mine. I'll continue writing in Python while you wish and wait.

I don't wish for anything, except for JetBrains to add C# to IntelliJ. But really, thanks for playing!

Looks like Apple changed the guidelines in late 2010 to allow interpreters to run as long as they don't download separate code... interesting.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4891642/interpreter-for-t...

Duplicate: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3632593

I own and use this app, it has been great for honing my skills. It is very disappointing that it can't function the way an editor of its type could due to the limitations of the App Store, since we all know this is the direction development (as with all other facets of business) is heading.

Oops. I submitted it half-assuming the link would be picked up as a duplicate and redirected. I was surprised that it wasn't.

I think the reason it was submitted is that it's free today.

It says price is 2,39€ for me though (Finnish App Store).

Yeah. I saw the announcement on reddit that it was free. Until then, didn't even realize there was a Python interpreter for iOS (Wasn't even aware that the App Store guidelines allowed it).

PS: For people who think HN is turning into reddit, look at the reddit comments for the same link. They're terrible.

Mods please re-title to make it clear this is an app in the store

It is a real shame that the app doesn't register as a handler for the ".py" file suffix.

I develop on the iPad by using Textastic as my editor and file manager and then use "open in.." to send source files to a runtime app that has registered for certain file types. In my case it is Scheme and CLIPS - but any runtime with an interpreter could work in this workflow.

I don't know how Apple would view this ability in a production app - i.e. the difference between downloading code (as prohibited in the legal agreement) and having code pushed sideways from another app.

Ha, typical. I just bought this last week. It's ace though even at 1.99 or whatever it cost me.

When I say ace, expected limitations apply, however with a fully working network and threading library, it's no hassle to extend SimpleHTTPServer and allow you to upload your .py files created elsewhere.

Cool and all, but with the rules on downloadable interpreted code I can't imagine this being super useful.

I think I'd find it handy for doing quick calculations.

It would be nice if it had bindings to access UIKit or other iOS APIs.

You would still have to load python, open your program file and run it, but I can see that is being useful for small utilities like currency converters or tip calculators.

Agreed. But unless Apple fundamentally change their policy, which I guess is very unlikely, this is going to remain more of a toy.

doesn't it have eval and urllib?

I have a friend with a printing press. He had to pull out all the letters and place them in the press and align them, ink them, and then press to add text to his hand printed greeting cards.

At the time, I had a Droid and the Android Scripting Kit, which included Python, in a sandbox as well. I was sitting there, watching him, and told him that I could automate that process for him. In the time it took for him to count half the letters out for the message, I wrote a program on my phone that solved the problem of counting how many letters he needed for a given text string, emailed it to him for him to run on his laptop, and gave him the answer for the current string he was working on.

The use case is on the spot coding.

if you want to write apps in python, run them on iOS, android or desktop and be able to submit them to the apple store or google play, check out kivy: http://kivy.org

Was free about an hour ago... not free anymore.

They probably saw their hit count go through the roof as tens of thousands of HN readers all clicked on the link hoping that Apple was releasing official support for Python-based iOS development.

They'll get more than a few sales out of this, but the submitter still needs to be smacked over the ambiguous headline.

I'm reminded of the old BASIC magazines, when the tech didn't exist to download programs, so you'd type them in by hand to run them. Yes, it's unnecessary work, but it also forces the user to see how the code works. (I wonder if Apple would allow pre-cooked Python scripts as in-app purchases, like a store-within-a-store?)

I believe it is against their terms of service to have an interpreter download code from the internet and execute it. Maybe a workaround could be to already have the scripts, but to "unlock" them? No social aspect to that, though.

I think you're right. I wonder if there might be cognitive reframings that would allow "code" to slip through, such as "tutorials" with code that's ready to run, but for a single line that needs to uncommented.

For that matter, I wonder how it will bump up against the rules if it does try to go more social. Already it's possible to copy/paste code and send it to friends via email; that's not conceptually different from sharing code via git. But being able to trivially clone a git repo would absolutely violate Apple's terms for distribution. Honestly, I'm (pleasantly) surprised they let this through in the first place, and I hope the envelope keeps getting pushed.

Is it just me, or do the app reviews look suspiciously stuffed? Surprisingly few mentions how they use it, or the inherent limitation that you can't download code?

Does anyone have a list of all existing interpreters in the App Store? This would be a nice compilation for newbies to programming, teaching kids to program, etc.

What exactly is the purpose of this app?

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