Jython Essentials (O'Reilly Scripting)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 304 pages
• Published by: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
• Edition: 1st Edition March 21, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0596002475
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0596002473
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 14.9 ounces

Product Description
Jython is an implementation of the Python programming language written in 100% pure Java, so it runs under any compliant Java Virtual Machine. The secret to Jython's popularity lies in the combination of Java's libraries and tools with Python's rapid development capabilities. With Jython, you can write Python programs that integrate seamlessly with any Java code. And like Python, Jython can be used interactively, so you can get immediate results as you are programming. Jython Essentials provides a solid introduction to the Python language, offering a brief but thorough tour of the Python concepts you'll need to understand to use Jython effectively. The book makes frequent comparisons between Python and Java, with special emphasis on the different object-oriented semantics of the two languages, so Java programmers can quickly get up to speed with Jython. Jython Essentials also covers the various ways in which Jython and Java can interact. For example, Jython code can create instances of pre-existing Java classes and call methods in those instances. You can write Jython classes that are direct subclasses of existing Java classes and use introspection to discern the capabilities of JavaBeans components. This book provides examples of using Jython with existing Java libraries, including the Swing GUI toolkit, the JDBC database API, the Servlet API, and various XML tools. And finally, the book shows how Jython can be used as a scripting language within a Java program. With Jython Essentials, you have everything you need to start creating applications that mix the best of Python's interactivity and Java's robust libraries.

Book Info
Provides a solid introduction to the Jython language, numerous examples of Jython/Java interaction, and valuable reference material on modules and libraries of use to Jython programmers. Softcover.

Reader Reviews
I found the book to be informative in learning JPython, but it seemed to have ignored the most practical use-cases for JPython, light scripting and unit testing, and kept suggesting JPython as an alternative for working in Java. In addition, I felt the book was poorly (or boringly) written and that the authors failed to draw on any significant amount of experience in writing the book. I would have preferred a book that wrote of JPython as a scripting language for Java and that offered advice on how best to leverage JPython for this purpose. I recommend taking a hard look at the other titles before purchasing this one. OK, I'm adding a paragraph to this review after owning the book for a few weeks. It IS a very helpful book and I'm raising my rating from 2 to 4 stars. Perhaps I was thrown off at first by the succinctness of the text, but I've come to find that it makes it a great reference book. I'm already a half-way experienced programmer and do not need the filler and the explanation of concepts that thicker books probably provide. Also, there is a helpful section on unit testing which I'd missed (It wasn't placed very well in the book) and python is a flexible enough language that someone should be able to figure out different ways to unit test without the section. Comment | | (Report this)