John Zelle wrote: > >VPython runs a GTK (I think) event loop in a separate thread, to stay >interactive in IDLE. > I believe this is true on Unix, but that VPython uses a native OpenGL capable window on Windows.
It has seemed to me that VPython event loop handling is problematic. The IDLE event loop, I believe, evolved in part in an effort to accommodate VPython - as David Scherer, the author of VPython, was also the author of the idle-fork branch that was eventually merged into IDLE proper. Other IDEs and prompts - Pythonwin, and ipython, for example, cannot handle VPython - closing altogether when a VPython window closes. Both Pythonwin and ipython are mature and widely used - so I do tend to think of it as a VPython issue. Not sure what the cake and eat-it possibilities are, i.e. whether it is possible to maintain the VPython interactivity while having it play better with others. And I do sometimes wonder whether the IDLE event loop handling has been overcomplicated by the effort to accommodate VPython - though I am glad the effort has been made. Lots of this is C, and not something I am configured to understand too deeply - though as PyGeo wraps itself around VPython, it is an issue in which I am quite interested, and do try to follow. The other big issue being VPython on the Mac - where I know there are installation issues, but I also know progress is being made (I think Dethe is looking at it, for one). I am close to buying a used Mac, feeling it necessary to get some handle on what folks are confronting here. Art _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list Edu-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
