As a way of learning more about syndication formats and because it’s fun, I’m planning to build a feed filter/synthesizer/remixer. It should optimize my blog tracking too. But I wasn’t sure and still am not sure what programming language and other tools to use. A couple months ago I started learning ASP.NET with C#, because that’s the first server-side framework introduced in UW’s internet programming certificate, which I enrolled in over the summer as a way to jumpstart my web development skills. However, as I get more comfortable with what’s going on these days I’m less and less willing to use Microsoft products.
I had tentatively decided I’d focus on PHP with MySQL for what I wanted to do. At least one well-regarded RSS feed parsing library exists for PHP: MagpieRSS. I got WAMP set up on my computer with only a few problems, and those were the exact same problems that everyone else who tries to get WAMP set up encounters, so it was easy to find solutions. I read up on PHP syntax. Hmmm, very C-like, I said to myself. Is that good or bad? I dunno, but kind of boring, since C was the third programming language I learned and now I know probably ten or more with varying amounts of fluency. However, unlike in C, in PHP you don’t have to compile anything or manage memory yourself: those are two very good things when programmer time is at a premium.
Then I bought this rather interesting book: Hacking RSS and Atom by Leslie M. Orchard. It covers virtually everything I want to do with my feed blender. Except it does it in Python. Dang.
I got over my initial disappointment, installed a UNIX command shell (Cygwin) on my Windows machine, downloaded Python, and started playing with the code from the book. Using Python is probably the quickest way to my destination since Orchard has kindly provided me all the pieces and learning I need in his book and code examples.
This morning I read a debate about Java vs. PHP vs. Ruby vs. Python vs. others. Besides reminding me how few women participate in such debates, it didn’t offer much enlightenment. Programmers seem to get used to the language they use a lot and then find others difficult or poorly designed. As for me, I’m not so excited about Python itself as I am about what I can do with it given a little help from modules like Mark Pilgrim’s Universal Feed Parser and Reverend for Bayesian classification.
