Author: JT Smith
CHICAGO  February 11, 2008  Business leaders, developers, and fans of the Python open source programming language used by Google, Industrial Light & Magic and YouTube meet March 13 to 20, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel for PyCon 2008. This annual community conference showcases the numerous advantages and exceptional usability of Python, which is rapidly becoming the industry standard dynamic programming language.
“We use Python throughout our infrastructure,†says Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager at Google. “Making extensive use of it and other open source languages and libraries allows us to rapidly build and deploy highly scalable systems.â€Â
PyCon 2008 crams hundreds of talks, tutorials and presentations into the week-long conference. Featured this year are three days of conference sessions, a day of tutorials, in which attendees learn firsthand from Python experts, and four days of development sprints, where participants brainstorm and collaborate on projects in person. Presenters from organizations such as Google, Lockheed Martin, Red Hat, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Oxford University will give talks on a wide variety of topics ranging from programming Python for the One Laptop Per Child project to Python use in games such as Counterstrike. Other notable sessions discuss Microsoft’s open source implementation of Python for the .NET Framework, Python 3000, scripting for the Microsoft Office system, and Jython, an implementation of Python on the Java platform that brings dynamic language features to the Java virtual machine.
“Python is consistently the ‘glue’ that brings White Oak custom software solutions together,†says Alan Broder, President of White Oak Technologies. “Our business has grown by leveraging the power of dynamic languages and open source solutions. Python is a standard part of our toolbox for a variety of purposes, including data analysis, text processing, cluster process control, web applications, rapid prototyping and system administration.â€Â
Python has recently been in the spotlight as the engine behind some of the most recognizable sites on the Internet.
“Python has been critical in allowing us to develop and scale the YouTube site efficiently,†says Cuong Do, engineering manager for YouTube. “There have been many cases where urgent issues were resolved through a few lines of carefully written Python code.â€Â
Python’s use by news organizations like the New York Times, by movie makers such as Disney and Industrial Light & Magic, and by game manufacturers like Valve puts Python in front of millions of people on a daily basis. In the scientific world, the use of Python by NASA, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, and AstraZeneca illustrates the practical relevance of Python to the world’s leading scientific centers. Activities at PyCon will show why Python was selected as the “Programming Language of 2007†by the TIOBE Index, a measurement of language popularity across industries.
“Microsoft is excited to support the industry standard Python language on the .NET Framework and in Silverlight,†says Dave Mendlen, director of Developer Marketing in the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp. “Dynamic languages are of growing importance to developers, and we are glad to provide comprehensive support for these languages, and particularly Python, on the Microsoft platform.â€Â
“We chose Python because it combines structure and ease; developers love it and it’s accessible for administrators,†says Erik Dahl, Co-Founder and CTO of Zenoss. “The end result is that our product evolves quickly, it’s easy to maintain and people like working with it.â€Â
Due to its versatility and ease of use, many organizations are turning to Python in order to write quality software in an efficient and timely manner.
“The role of the Python language for Enthought clients is evolving from a ‘useful tool’ into a critical framework at the center of their technology strategy,†says Travis Vaught, CFO of Enthought, Inc. “Scientists increasingly see Python as the best way to do numerical computing with an extensible framework.â€Â
Some of the leading technical organizations are proud to sponsor PyCon 2008. Google and White Oak Technologies are sponsoring at the Diamond level and Enthought, Microsoft, and Zenoss at the Platinum level. Gold sponsors include Accense Technologies, ITA Software, Leapfrog Online, Predictix, Resolver Systems, and Wingware. Activestate, Canonical, Fivedash, Imaginary Landscape, Nokia, Nuance Communications, Inc., O’Reilly, PSC Consulting, Symbian, Tummy.com, and ZeOmega are Silver sponsors. Chicago-area sponsors consist of Leapfrog Online and PSC Consulting.
Early bird registration is available through February 20, 2008. Admission prices are $400 for corporate, $220 for standard, $125 for students, and $60 for a tutorial-only pass. Regular registration up to March 7, 2008 costs $500 for corporate, $300 for standard, $180 for students, and $80 for a tutorial-only pass. At the door, the cost rises to $600 for a corporate pass, $400 for standard, $250 for students, and $100 for tutorial-only passes.
For more information or to register for this event, please visit http://us.pycon.org.
About White Oak Technologies
White Oak Technologies, Inc. (WOTI) provides the next generation of solutions to massive, information-intensive, strategic intelligence challenges. WOTI’s industry leading WAREMAN® software has entity-resolved one of the worlds largest databases. WOTI is also a premier provider of advanced custom software solutions, and uses Python as a primary programming language for solving many development problems. As a past sponsor of PyCon, WOTI is honored to further support the Python community through PyCon 2008. For more information, visit www.woti.com.
About Enthought
Enthought is a privately held scientific computing company based in Austin, TX. Founded in 2001, we have built a business around providing custom applications using the Python programming language. Enthought fosters the development of the SciPy scientific library and, as a matter of practice, releases well over half of all code we write as open source (code.enthought.com). We work on extremely interesting problems in the fields of Geophysics, Finance, Electromagnetics and Fluid Dynamics–all in a fun environment full of extremely bright people. This spring we are offering an Enterprise-class distribution of the Python language (Enthought Python Distribution), which includes many scientific and application-building packages in one bundle. For more information, visit www.enthought.com.
About Zenoss
Zenoss Inc. delivers open source IT management solutions to organizations across the globe. Flagship product Zenoss Core is a complete network monitoring and systems management platform that discovers networked IT resources, monitors them for performance and availability, and tracks changes through a configuration management database (CMDB). Through our integrated, model-driven product and by taking a new approach to management software that combines the benefits of open source with the best aspects of commercial development, we offer an alternative to large proprietary software vendors. For more information, visit www.zenoss.com.
About PyCon
Presented by the Python Software Foundation, the world’s largest Python conference brings together a diverse group of developers, enthusiasts, and organizations to explore new challenges, launch new businesses and forge new connections within the Python community. PyCon provides attendees with the opportunity to delve into the dynamic programming language employed by well-known companies such as Google, iRobot, and YouTube. PyCon helps people learn new tools and techniques, showcase projects, and meet other Python fans.
Google and YouTube are trademarks of Google Inc. All products, logos, or brand names are service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks, and are the property of their respective owners.
Link: us.pycon.org
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