Thursday, March 3, 2011

Your ActiveState News for March 2011

To view this email as a web page, click here

head_dyn-lang-news.jpg
Hello!
Issue 30
March 2011
Welcome to the March issue of the ActiveState Dynamic Languages Newsletter! In this issue you'll find:
  • Get an Ebook with Purchase in March
  • New White Paper: Buy vs. Build
  • Webinars: Python on the Cloud (with guest host Amazon Web Services) and More
  • Django + Komodo == Better Than Ever

As always, please feel free to drop us a line if you have ideas for future issues or feedback.

  The ActiveState Team


Get an Ebook with Purchase in March
For the month of March, we're giving away copies of the ebook 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know (O'Reilly Media) with every new purchase of Komodo IDE, Perl Dev Kit and Tcl Dev Kit.

Whether you're a seasoned pro or a beginner, everyone can use the tips in 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts. Valued at $29.99 US, the ebook contains 97 short and extremely useful tips from some of the most experienced and respected practitioners in the industry.

Averaging 4/5 stars on Amazon, online reviewers have left reviews such as "A standard textbook--Good advice for software developers and managers alike. Every office should have a copy," and "I'm a programmer with over 20 years of experience, and while the advice in every article was not unknown to me, I did find every article brilliantly expressed and interesting to read. I would recommend this book to developers of all levels of experience."

Place your order before March 31st to receive this great ebook, downloadable in five formats for reading at your leisure.

Komodo + Bonus Ebook
PDK + Bonus Ebook
TDK + Bonus Ebook

Offer applies to all new single and 5-pack purchases of Komodo, PDK, TDK. Sorry, does not apply to upgrades.

New White Paper: Buy vs. Build
 

Check out our newest white paper, Buy vs Build: Delivering Faster, Better Software with Best-of-Breed Solutions (PDF).

Everyone loves home improvement reality TV, especially high-drama episodes where construction newbies attempt risky renovations. For many of us, “DIY” is synonymous with demolition; but it’s also relevant to software development. Home renovation setbacks — delayed deadlines, exploding budgets and sub-par results — haunt software development projects, too. In this paper, we discuss the risks of do-it-yourself software development and make a case for why off-theshelf best-of-breed components and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) solutions can be a better choice for your application.

Read the white paper (PDF) and discover if you should build or buy!



Webinars at ActiveState

New! Python on the Cloud: Best Practices for Application Deployment on the Cloud

Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Time: 11 am PST/ 2 pm EST (length: 1 hour)

Space is limited, so reserve your seat now!

Whether you are a start-up deploying your first web application, an ISV porting your applications to the cloud, or in-house IT developing new corporate applications to a cloud-based infrastructure, cloud computing is on every CTO and CIO's mind.

Transitioning to the cloud is a complex decision and process. It can be an excellent opportunity to re-architect older applications and infrastructure. Or, the risk of moving sensitive data and applications to an emerging infrastructure might exceed your tolerance. Register for this webcast to hear practical recommendations to make that transition as seamlessly as possible, on your own terms.

Where and how do you start? What are your infrastructure and language options in the cloud?

Join Amazon Web Services' Jinesh Varia and ActiveState's Diane Mueller to learn best practices for building & deploying web applications to the cloud with Python. They will discuss and demonstrate how a simple web interface gives developers complete control of computing resources, enabling you to develop, deploy, and scale in the cloud with ease. You will learn:

  • How to reduce IT costs and accelerate time-to-deployment with cloud-based infrastructure
  • How you can develop powerful applications faster with Python
  • How to spin up your own Amazon Machine Image (AMI) with ActiveState's vetted LAMP stack
  • How to connect and build enterprise-grade infrastructure to support and manage your deployment
  • How to leverage Python to deliver scalable, enterprise-class applications on the cloud
  • How to scale easily with on-demand infrastructure

If you are ready to take your applications to the cloud, then you don't want to miss this webcast! Sign up for the webinar now.

New Archived Webinar: How to Develop Mission Critical Applications with PyIMSL and ActivePython (45 min)

Following on the announcement of our partnership with Rogue Wave a couple of weeks ago, we're hosting a free webinar for all you Pythonistas and financial engineers to learn more about the power in this new offering. If you're developing financial or scientific applications, learn how to use Python, PyIMSL, and Rogue's IMSL Libraries to embed mathematical and statistical functions in your applications.

We'll have Rogue Wave's Steve Lang show you how you can save time with pre-written algorithms. And our own Diane Mueller talk about how you can access them through PyIMSL wrappers in ActivePython. 

View the archived webinar and you will see:

  • How to access the PyIMSL Libraries with ActivePython
  • How to save time with all the pre-built analytic capabilities of PyIMSL, including a demo
  • Example of charting using the matplotlib module
  • Demonstration of AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA)

Watch the webinar today.


Working with Django in Komodo 6.1

Along with the host of project improvements in Komodo 6.1, we did a lot of work in this release to improve the editing experience for Django users.

Komodo now has:

  • better syntax highlighting and smarter indentation for templates,
  • syntax checking for templates,
  • automatic code completion for Django template tags and filters,
  • hyperlinks to easily jump to template file locations and
  • directory name matching in "Go to File" for quickly opening project files

Watch Troy's screencast showing you these features in action, and download a 21-day trial of Komodo IDE to give it a whirl.

Thanks to everyone who participated in February's long survey covering a wide array of development issues. We had over 3,000 respondents and are reading every single one. The iPad winner will be drawn in late March.

This month's Quick Poll should take no more than one minute to complete. One respondent will receive a t-shirt just for taking the time to reply to the three questions! Take the quick poll now.



Release the love! February was the month of build love.
All-new builds were released for:

ActivePerl
ActivePython
ActiveTcl
Komodo 6.1


Pyon US 2011
Atlanta, GA
March 11-13, 2011

ActiveState is a long-time supporter of PyCon and a founding member of the Python Software Foundation. Join us this March (booth 302) to win a great Python prize pack, and join Todd Whiteman, Komodo Dev Lead, defend Komodo as the best Python IDE in the Python IDE Panel debate on March 12th, 1145AM-1230PM!

Stop by our booth to say hi; if you're attending the event we'd love to see you there.

 


Planning an event we should know about? Have an event you recommend we attend? Send us an email.

  



Do you tweet?
Seems everyone does these days.

Stay on top of the latest happenings at ActiveState - news, offers, contests, blogs - and connect with other developers through Twitter.
Follow us @activestate
1700 - 409 Granville Street | Vancouver, BC V6C 1T2 | Canada | www.activestate.com
Phone: (778) 786 1100 | Toll-Free: 1 (866) 631 4581 | Fax: (778) 786 1133

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click on the following link: Unsubscribe