Jeff Croft’s Django for non-programmers article is a good introduction to one of the top Python web development toolkits. You can build a weblog in thirteen lines of declarative Python — and no SQL.
Of course, the “non-programmer” has to be capable of putting those nine lines of code in the right place with the right customization, but that’s not awful at all. I’m certainly impressed.
This does raise one important issue (no, not “does the world need yet another weblog program” — it doesn’t): “how do people get Django installed on cheap hosting providers?
That is a subject worth much more thought.
Django can be installed by extremely clever "non-programmers" at asmallorange.com.
http://forums.asmallorange.com/index.php?showtopic=5104
+ you need to send some mail to asmallorange staff to upgrade some components.
In my opinnion, this is a non-issue: they shouldn't. I see Django as a tool to build good software, not cheap. If the cost of a decent hosting is too much, go with PHP.
Thanks for the comment, Ville.
I'm not sure I agree with your analysis though. Isn't Django a better way to develop good software than vanilla PHP? Should paying for premium hosting or running your own server be a barrier to entry to using Django?
Perhaps there's a (small but lucrative) market for boutique hosting services such as asmallorange and Planet Argon to offer clueful, powerful hosting packages at reasonable prices.
I just hate to see good software go unused because of installation and deployment difficulties.