[Info-vax] Python on VMS

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 1/16/2019 1:21 PM, Jan-Erik Söderholm wrote:
> Den 2019-01-16 kl. 18:01, skrev Arne Vajhøj:
>> On 1/16/2019 9:11 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>> On 1/16/19 8:34 AM, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>>> But Python is let me call it "convenient" or "practical" - if
>>>> one needs to get something done then it is usually very easy
>>>> in Python.
>>>
>>> It is not really any easier to do anything in Python than
>>> in a real language.  But using a real language just wouldn't
>>> be as cool.  The current nature of the industry.
>>
>> I will assume you by real languages mean traditional
>> languages like Fortran, Cobol, C, Pascal etc..
>>
>> Python is a lot easier than those languages for
>> a lot of what Python is used for.
> 
> Agree! Last spring, when we needed to implement a REST interface
> to a new server/application, we selected to use Python (that we
> already had since many years on our VMS servers) since it already
> had an installed version of the "requests" package/module.
> 
> Look up "requests" in the list of installed packages/moduls:
> 
> http://www.vmspython.org/doku.php?id=downloadandinstallationpython
> 
> Some examples using requests:
> 
> https://www.pythonforbeginners.com/requests/using-requests-in-python
> 
> Using this tool within Python is *far* easier then to code the same
> REST/HTTP calls using such as a C library and having some Cobol code
> calling that. Far far easier and much faster to get it running.
> 
> Python also have built in tools to deal with the JSON formatted
> replies from the server, also way easier than to write our own
> code to encode and decode JSON data.

I know about Python requests.

http://www.vajhoej.dk/arne/articles/wsrest.html

down under "client" "framework".

:-)

BTW, why does VMS Python come with requests instead of just coming with
pip and have those that need requests get it with pip?

> Saying that it is just as hard in Python as any other traditional
> language just shows the ignorance of the one claiming that.

There are many other languages with good libraries.

I would not expect too much for RESTful web service calls in Cobol,
but Python is not the only one.

But Python almost always have something and more important
something that is relative easy to use.

Python is a language where one usually get positive
surprised if one need top get something done without
too much hassle.

Arne