Or one can open up the character map. Most systems have a away of opening it. I know it exists on Windows, but I'm not sure if one has to use the Run command or not (I may be confusing accessing it via Run with the character editor, I think I am; in which case, the character map is under Accessories but I haven't a damn clue where it is on Windows 8 since the Start Menu no longer exists...).

I just started reading a book called "Programming for the Absolute Beginner". It basically teaches you how to use JustBasic. I was wondering if I am wasting my time by learning JustBasic? I have read online that starting with Basic can develop bad habits (and is otherwise an obsolete language). And if so, any suggestions for books or online resources for beginners would be appreciated.

Hey guys.

I'm going to work on a stock control system as part of a school project (making up 60% of my grade next year). We mainly use Visual Basic for any schoolwork, but I've learnt how to use Python as well.

I'll need to create a GUI and manage a SQL database on a web server. I've looked at tools such as Tkinter for creating GUIs, but that's a whole other beast when compared to the ease that VB provides when creating Windows Forms. I'm a bit lost, since I really have no idea how to create a GUI using Python, nor do I know how to create a link to an online database, and I don't know how to create an executable Python file (something to do with "setup.py" and the py2exe module apparently).

Could anybody point me in the right direction here?

Also, what on Earth is IronPython?

Thank you

1. What kind of SQL Database?

2. If creating a GUI for a database backended on a web server, why not a web application?

Yes, VB makes it stupidly simple to create a GUI, but it comes at a very high cost: you have to use VB

The way you create a link to an online database will depend on the type of database.

Unless you need to create a win32 executable, I wouldn't bother. The only benefit really is not needing to install full python on the PC executing it. basically something nice for end users. That said, it's not hard and http://www.py2exe.org/index.cgi/Tutorial aren't bad. The basic steps are you create a setup.py file that looks like:

from distutils.core import setupimport py2exe setup(windows=['insertscriptnamehere.py'])

and then run python setup.py py2exe

IronPython is a (now dead?) implementation of python for .NET/Common Language Runtime. The main purpose of it is that it'd allow you to create silverlight/ASP.NET stuff in Python as well as allow you to use python as a scripting language to extend your program