Cranky, It is a little difficult to answer your question.
First impression is that your experience gives you good ideas of how to solve the problem. Some of them may not suit the Python environment as well as (say) that of PHP/MSFT. So, a learning opportunity there too.
Second impression is that there are a lot of moving parts. How many of them do you know well, and how many are learning-targets? Trying to tackle 'too much' that is 'new' may result in heavy frustration. (no mention of skill-levels, so 'just sayin')
The web-ref is not a book, but a *simple* article. It will serve, as long as you stick within the narrow scope of that article. The instant you deviate or customise, you're 'on your own'. For this reason, my recommendation is always a (proper/full) book*, if at all possible. You speak of MVC, so one (of many) Python web framework is Mig Grinberg's "Flask". Apart from his own, there are several other books which cover this subject. Following such a text will enable you to start-out on 'toy examples' and then gather expertise. Likely, you will re-shape this project whilst learning.
* I used the term "book" but the last person to whom I recommended such couldn't afford the cost, and these days there are many excellent on-line and equally structured alternatives, eg Python courses on Coursera.org and edX.org (both 'freemium' offerings) - IIRC(?) Flask is available on Lynda (LinkedIN).
That said, let's try responding to each of your points:- On 12/05/19 6:59 AM, Cranky Frankie wrote:
I'm a long time IT professional trying to teach myself object-oriented programming. As such I want to build a traditional PC app using MVC (Model - View - Controller) architecture. Just want to make sure I'm heading about this in the best way so I'm looking for some direction. For the Model or persistence layer I want to use SQLite. For the View or GUI I want to use wxPython. For the Controller I want to of course use Python. I'm also planning on using Git for source control. 1) For the IDE I'm most comfortable with Netbeans/Java, but I'm forcing myself to try and get comfortable with PyCharm. Is it worth sticking it out with PyCharm, or should I go with the Python module in Netbeans? Or is there another IDE I should look at?
To my observation an IDE is less important in Python (than for highly structured, strongly typed, compiled, ... languages). My advice is, once you've chosen and found that it works, do NOT switch editor/IDE in anything less than one year. Under the 80-20 'rule', we use a basic few editing 'features' to do most of our work. Thus, it stands to reason that it will take periods of 'real time' before you decide 'there must be an easier way' to achieve some functionality and go looking in the editor's menus/help/etc to see if/what it might be! The other aspect is that 'religious wars' are fought over "which is the best editor/IDE" style questions. If you believe 'everyone' you'll 'jump' so often that you'll never figure-out 'which'. So, given that PyCharm is purpose-built, has a good reputation, and you have already used it: "if it ain't broke, why fix it"? (NB I don't use it, but have in the past)
2) For wxPython I'm finding a lot of the documentation is outdated. Is this book any good: http://www.blog.pythonlibrary.org/2019/05/08/creating-gui-applications-with-wxpython-now-available/ Or is there a better book/course/website I should be working with? Or is there a better grahpics framework at this point for a traditional desktop app?
- attempted to tackle in 'strategy' comments, above
3) For the O-O part, I'm comfortable with Inheritance and Composition. Do I need to worry about any of the more advanced design patterns? This app will be for vehicle ownership - tracking maintenance, etc. Nothing fancy.
At risk of creating a dichotomy, whilst there are books which attempt to 'translate' the original gang-of-four patterns (and more) into 'Python', none has really impressed. "Pythonista" talk of "pythonic" solutions. Personal observations when learning Python (as if I'm not still...) included the need to desist from trying to solve a problem in xyz-other-language and 'translate' that to Python, but to learn how Python's construction enables its own solution-approach - sometimes quite distinctive. My favorite simple example of this is that many other languages offer do/for-loops. However Python's construct should be called for-each because it does not manage an index, eg loop-around doing something with array[index]; but instead/additionally "iterates" over a "collection", eg for item in list: ... Which also disposes of the need to learn the GoF iterator pattern as a "pattern" - but does not excuse you from understanding the "idiom". Once again, such are best (IMHO) learned from the cohesive and comprehensive coverage of a decent Python book*, cf numerous and unrelated web/blog/etc entries.
4) I plan to write my Use Case in Libre Office Write. For the UML diagrams, is there a simple app to handle that? I don't need it to generate code but I'd like to have a nice class diagram if possible.
There are many UML tools. Most operating at an higher level and understanding the abstraction/components, thus better than using LibreOffice tools to 'roll your own' as 'pretty pictures' (without the tool understanding their meaning)!
5) I'm really having trouble envisioning the GUI screens. How does one get a handle on that? Just draw the screens on paper, or what?
Yes! Paper, whiteboard, chalkboard, glass, ... It is a very iterative process, even after?especially after delivering the first MVP!
Any ideas very much appreciated.
The MVP system design/project management ideas of iterative development repeats the theme of progressive-learning outlined earlier. Great things start from small-beginnings. Don't "bite off more than you can chew". Keep things manageable, reign-in your expectations, and thus help yourself to maintain your enthusiasm over the life of the project...
All the best, -- Regards =dn _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
