Talks for Northwest Python Day 2010

Time: #1, 10:00am
Name: DanHelfman
Affiliation: NOAA/GDIT
Email: dan.helfman@noaa.nospam.please.gov
Abstract: Maproom is a 2d map viewer and editor developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It's written almost entirely in Python using wxPython, PyOpenGL, and NumPy. I will talk about why you would possibly want to use Python for high-performance graphics, and what you can do about making it perform well.

A brief history of BitBacker, a (Python) startup

Time: #2, 10:30am
Name: GaryBernhardt
Affiliation: Independent
Email: gary.bernhardt@gmail.com
Abstract: This is the story of a startup company building online backup software. It existed for three years, from March 2006 to March 2009. The final system was about 17,000 lines, all of it Python – the highly scalable back-end servers, the build and deployment systems, the website, and the desktop client app. This talk is about the experience of using Python across all of these technology areas – what worked well; what was learned about building and testing software; and what should've been done differently.

Time: #3, 11:30am
Name: JonJacky
Affiliation: University of Washington
Email: jon@u.washington.edu
Abstract: In unit testing, the programmer codes the test cases, and also codes assertions that check whether each test case passed. In model-based testing, the programmer codes a "model" that generates as many test cases as desired and also acts as the oracle that checks the cases. PyModel is an open-source model-based testing framework in Python. PyModel supports on-the-fly testing, which can generate indefinitely long nonrepeating tests as the test run executes. PyModel can focus test cases on scenarios of interest by composition, a versatile technique that combines models by synchronizing shared actions and interleaving unshared actions. PyModel can guide test coverage according to strategies coded by the programmer.

Time: #4, 12:00pm
Name: SteveHowell
Affiliation: Seattle
Email: showell30@yahoo.com
Abstract: SHPAML is a mini-language that helps you build web pages more quickly. It is similar to haml in terms of using indentation-based syntax to simplify the authoring of HTML. Unlike haml, which comes from the Ruby community, SHPAML is written in Python and strives for even cleaner syntax. I will introduce the language itself by doing a quick walkthru of the tutorial, and then, as time permits, will talk about the implementation, as well as my experiences using the tool.

Time: #5, 2:30pm
Name: JustinSamuel
Affiliation: University of Washington
Email: jsamuel@cs.washington.edu
Abstract: Software update systems vary widely in design and purpose. They include package managers like APT and YUM, library managers like easy_install, and all kinds of individual application updaters. As users of these tools, we want (among other things) to be certain that the software we install is really what we meant to install. Unfortunately, these tools are far from secure. Package managers have widely known vulnerabilities and library managers like easy_install offer no security at all. This talk will discuss the individual security issues and our work on an open source framework being developed in Python to secure these systems.

Time: #6, 3:00pm
Name: JustinCappos, IvanBeschastnikh
Affiliation: University of Washington
Email: justinc@cs.washington.edu
Abstract: An update to last year's talk, discussing the the team has been up to with new code and features. Seattle is an open-source platform for developing and deploying networked applications. Core feature of Seattle is that it allows safe execution of untrusted code on end-user systems. In our talk we look at how we used Python to build a safe, restricted code execution environment for Seattle that not only provides execution safety but also enforces strict resource consumption limits. In addition, Seattle includes a high-level API to hide inconsistent OS-specific behaviors from developers. What results is a platform that welcomes the participation of end-user machines for general-purpose distributed programming and creates new possibilities for developers. This talk will also appear at PyCon

Time: #7, 4:00pm
Name: Dane Springmeyer
Affiliation: DBSGEO
Email: dane.springmeyer@gmail.com
Abstract: A practical introduction to mapping and GIS (geographical information systems) in Python. Python is one the most sophisticated and powerful languages for handling large and complex spatial data. After hitting on the basics everyone should know for making maps, we'll focus on a tangible, simple example that shows how to get live data feeds onto an interactive web map using python as the glue.

Time: #8, 4:30pm
Name: GaryBernhardt
Affiliation: Independent
Email: gary.bernhardt@gmail.com
Abstract: For several months, I've been splitting my days between Python and Ruby, with each getting four hours of the day. This has naturally led to comparisons, and it's made me reconsider a lot of Pythonisms I once took for granted. This talk will start with the two communities: where did they come from and what do they value? From there, we'll look at how those communities give rise to the languages, their common libraries, and especially their different idioms. Special emphasis will be placed on points where one language's features point out a hole in the other.