https://developer.apple.com/swift/ This lowers the bar for entry to the iOS market. Does it also lower the bar for Mac OS X? Can it be used to write command-line command-line applications ("scripts")? It has a REPL, which means it can do a kind of "just-in-time" compile and …

See this short discussion on a Stingray Reader feature:

https://sourceforge.net/p/stingrayreader/discussion/COBOL/thread/d2132851/?limit=25#2a3a

This turned into an exercise in pure TDD.

<rant>

I'm not a fan of applying TDD in a strict, death-march fashion.

I see the comments on Stack Overflow that …

Read this: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/born-with-curiosity-the-grace-hopper-documentary#home Consider donating to preserve history. Read this: http://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/7368-crowd-fund-film-about-grace-hopper.html Her legacy is often overshadowed by folks like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

Here's an interesting problem. Implement the split command for mainframe COBOL EBCDIC files with their BDW and RDW headers.

The conventional split can't handle COBOL EBCDIC files because they don't have sensible \n line breaks. Translating an EBCDIC file to ASCII is high-risk because COMP and COMP-3 fields will be …

We'll be digging into Mastering Object-Oriented Python. Chapter 17, specifically.

We'll also be looking at a big refactoring of the Stingray Schema-Based File Reader.

We can identify three species of packages.

One common design is a Simple Package. A directory with an empty __init__.py file. This package name becomes …

Want a copy free? See this contest: http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2014/05/12/ebook-contest-win-a-free-copy-of-mastering-object-oriented-python/.

If you're really interested, I can sign a copy. That will double the shipping cost, so perhaps that's not the best idea.

The bad news is that the errata have started to trickle in …

• 0 Some Preliminaries 3 examples, 56 lines
• 1 The __init__() Method 55 examples, 351 lines
• 2 Integrating Seamlessly …

Updates completed. See https://sourceforge.net/projects/pywebtool/ and http://pywebtool.sourceforge.net.

The list of changes is extensive.

However, the essential API and the markup language for creating literate programs hasn't (significantly) changed. A few experimental features were replaced with a first-class implementation.

The interesting (to me) bit is …

• Some small improvements to the COBOL DDE parsing.
• A sensible demo program that shows how to read COBOL files.
• A complete rewrite to Python3.3.
• Support for more COBOL syntax.
• Support for Occurs Depending On
• Support for RECFM=F, RECFM=V and RECFM=VB …