Introduction to Jython, Part 2:

Programming essentials
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Table of Contents
If you're viewing this document online, you can click any of the topics below to link directly to that section.

1. About this tutorial.......................................................

2. Object-oriented programming in Jython ............................
3. Advanced object-oriented programming ...........................
4. Debugging Jython ......................................................
5. Java support in Jython ................................................
6. Java thread support in Jython........................................
7. Interfacing with Java services ........................................
8. Jython string processing ..............................................
9. Processing regular expressions .....................................
10. File I/O in Jython ......................................................
11. A simple Swing GUI ..................................................
12. Wrap-up and resourcesFeedback .................................
13. Appendices ............................................................

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Section 1. About this tutorial

What is this tutorial about?
This is the second installment in a two-part tutorial designed to introduce you to the
Jython scripting language. Jython is an implementation of Python that has been
seamlessly integrated with the Java platform. Python is a powerful object-oriented
scripting language used primarily in UNIX environments.
In Part 1 of this tutorial, you learned the basics of Jython, including installation and
setup, access options and file compilation, syntax and data types, program structure,
procedural statements, and functions. In Part 2 we will delve into some of the more
advanced aspects of working with this powerful scripting language, starting with an
in-depth introduction to object-oriented programming with Jython. We'll also discuss
topics essential to the mechanics of application development in any language,
including debugging, string processing, and file I/O.
By the time you have completed this second half of the two-part introduction to Jython,
you will be able to write and implement complete functions, classes, and programs in
Jython.

Should I take this tutorial?

This tutorial is designed as a progressive introduction to Jython. If you have not
completed Part 1 of the tutorial, you should do so before proceeding to Part 2. Both the
conceptual discussion and many of the code examples presented here will be difficult
to follow without reference to Part 1.
In this second half of the tutorial,we will cover the following aspects of scripting with
Jython:

Object-oriented programming with Jython

Debugging
Java support
String processing
File I/O
Building a Swing GUI application in Jython

To benefit from the discussion, you should be familiar with at least one procedural
programming language and the basic concepts of computer programming, including
command-line processing. To fully utilize Jython's features you should also be familiar

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with the basic concepts of object-oriented programming. To fully understand the GUI
application example at the end of the tutorial you should have prior experience with
Swing GUI programming, although you will be able to glean a lot from the preceding
discussion and examples. It will also be helpful to have a working knowledge of the
Java platform, because Jython runs on a JVM; although this is not a requirement of the
tutorial.
Note that this tutorial is oriented towards Windows systems. All command examples
will employ Windows syntax. In most cases similar commands perform the same
functions on UNIX systems, although these commands will not be demonstrated.

Tools, code, and installation requirements

You must have Jython 2.1 or higher installed on your development system to complete
this tutorial. Your development system may be any ASCII text editor (such as Windows
Notepad) combined with the command prompt. The tutorial includes detailed
instructions for getting and installing Jython on your system.
To use Jython you must also have a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed on
your system. It is recommended that you use the latest JRE available (1.4.2 at the time
of writing), but any version at or beyond Java 1.2 should work fine. If you are going to
use Jython from a browser (that is, as an applet), you must have at least a JRE 1.1
available to the browser. See the Resources on page 73 section to download the latest
version of the JDK.
All code examples in this tutorial have been tested on Jython running on the Sun Java
1.4.1 JRE on Windows 2000. Examples should work without change on any similar
configuration on other operating systems.
Included with the tutorial is a set of appendices detailing all of the code examples you
will use to learn about Jython. All code examples have been tested on Jython running
on the Sun Java 1.4.1 JRE on Windows 2000. Examples should work without change
on any similar configuration on other operating systems.

About the author

Dr. Barry Feigenbaum is a member of the IBM Worldwide Accessibility Center, where
he is part of team that helps IBM make its own products accessible to people with
disabilities. Dr. Feigenbaum has published several books and articles, holds several
patents, and has spoken at industry conferences such as JavaOne. He serves as an
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Texas, Austin.

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Dr. Feigenbaum has more than 10 years of experience using object-oriented

languages like C++, Smalltalk, the Java programming language, and Jython. He uses
the Java language and Jython frequently in his work. Dr. Feigenbaum is a Sun Certified
Java Programmer, Developer, and Architect. You can reach him at
[email protected].
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge Mike Squillace and Roy Feigel for their excellent technical
reviews of this tutorial.

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Section 2. Object-oriented programming in Jython

A conceptual overview
Object-oriented programming (OOP) represents the state-of-the-art in software
programming technique. OOP is based on the notion of creating a model (or
simulation) of the target problem in your programs. Properly using OOP techniques
reduces programming errors, speeds up software development, and facilitates the
reuse of existing code. Jython fully supports the concepts and practice of OOP.
In the following sections I will introduce OOP and describe how it is achieved in Jython.
In the next section I will discuss some of the more advanced features of object-oriented
programming in Jython.

Objects in Jython
Jython is an object-oriented language that completely supports object-oriented
programming. Objects defined by Jython have the following features:
Identity: Each object must be distinct and this must be testable. Jython supports the
is and is not tests for this purpose.
State: Each object must be able to store state. Jython provides attributes (a.k.a.
fields or instance variables) for this purpose.
Behavior: Each object must be able to manipulate its state. Jython provides
methods for this purpose.
Note that the id(object) built-in function returns a unique integer identity value. So,
the expression x is y is equivalent to id(x) == id(y).

OOP support in Jython

In its support for object-oriented programming, Jython includes the following features:
Class-based object creation: Jython classes are templates for the creation of
objects. Objects are data structures with associated behavior.

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Inheritance with polymorphism: Jython supports single- and multiple-inheritance .

All Jython instance methods are polymorphic (or virtual) and may be overridden by
subclasses.
Encapsulation with data hiding: Jython allows (but does not require) attributes to
be hidden, thus permitting access outside the class itself only through methods of
the class. Classes implement functions (called methods) to modify the data.

Defining a class
Defining a class is a lot like defining a module in that both variables and functions can
be defined. Unlike the Java language, Jython allows the definition of any number of
public classes per source file (or module). Thus, a module in Jython is much like a
package in the Java language.
We use the class statement to define classes in Jython. The class statement has
the following form:

class name ( superclasses ):

statement

-- or -class name ( superclasses ):

assignment
:
function
:

When you define a class, you have the option to provide zero or more assignment
statements. These create class attributes that are shared by all instances of the class.
You can also provide zero or more function definitions. These create methods. The
superclasses list is optional. We'll discuss superclasses a little later in the tutorial.
The class name should be unique in the same scope (module, function, or class). The
class name is really a variable bound to the class body (similar to any other
assignment). In fact, you can define multiple variables to reference the same class.

Creating a class instance

Classes are used to hold class (or shared) attributes or to create class instances. To

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create an instance of a class you call the class as if it were a function. There is no need
to use a new operator like in C++ or the Java language. For example, with the class

class MyClass:
pass

the following statement creates an instance:

x = MyClass()

Adding attributes to a class instance

In Jython (unlike in the Java language) clients can add fields (also known as attributes)
to an instance. Only the one instance is changed. To add fields to an instance (x) just
set new values on that instance, as shown below:

x.attr1 = 1
x.attr2 = 2
:
x.attrN = n

Defining class attributes and methods

Any variable bound in a class is a class attribute (or variable). Any function defined
within a class is a method. Methods receive an instance of the class, conventionally
called self, as the first (perhaps only) argument. For example, to define some class
attributes and methods, you might enter:

class MyClass:
attr1 = 10
attr2 = "hello"

# class attributes

def method1(self):
print MyClass.attr1

# reference the class attribute

def method2(self, p1, p2):

print MyClass.attr2
# reference the class attribute
def method3(self, text):
self.text = text
# instance attribute
print text, self.text
# print my argument and my attribute

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# make an alias for method3

Note that inside a class, you should qualify all references to class attributes with the
class name (for example, MyClass.attr1) and all references to instance attributes
with the self variable (for example, self.text). Outside the class, you should
qualify all references to class attributes with the class name (for example,
MyClass.attr1) or an instance (for example, x.attr1) and all references to
instance attributes with an instance (for example, x.text, where x is an instance of
the class).

Hidden variables
To achieve data hiding, it is often desirable to create "private" variables, which can be
accessed only by the class itself. Jython provides a naming convention that makes
accessing attributes and methods outside the class difficult. If you declare names of the
form: __xxx or __xxx_yyy (that's two leading underscores), the Jython parser will
automatically mangle (that is, add the class name to) the declared name, in effect
creating hidden variables. For example:

class MyClass:
__attr = 10

# private class attribute

def method1(self):
pass
def method2(self, p1, p2):
pass
def __privateMethod(self, text):
self.__text = text
# private attribute

Note that unlike C++ and the Java language, all references to instance variables must
be qualified with self; there is no implied use of this.

The init method

The __init__ method serves the role of an instance constructor. It is called whenever
an instance is created. This method should be defined for all classes. Method
__init__ may take arguments. In Jython, and unlike in C++ or the Java language, all
instance variables (also known as attributes or fields) are created dynamically by
assignment. They should be defined (that is, assigned to) inside __init__. This
ensures they are defined for subsequent methods to use. Some examples are as
follows:

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class Class1:
def __init__ (self):
self.data = []
class Class2:
def __init__ (self, v1, v2):
self.v1 = v1
self.v2 = v2

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# no arguments
# set implicit data
# 2 required arguments
# set data from parameters

class Class3:
def __init__ (self, values=None): # 1 optional argument
if values is None: values = []
self.values = values
# set data from parameter

The del method

If you allocate any resources in the __init__ method (or any other method), you
need to ensure they are released before the object is deallocated. The best way to do
this is by using the __del__ method. The __del__ method is called just before the
garbage collector deallocates the object. You should also provide a cleanup method
(typically named close, destroy, or dispose) that can be called directly. Here's an
example:

class Class:
def __init__ (self, db):
self.connection = db.getConnection()
self.connection.open()
def __del__ (self):
self.close()

# establish a connection
# cleanup at death

def close(self):
# cleanup
if not self.connection is None and self.connection.isOpen():
self.connection.close()
# release connection
self.connection = None

Using classes as values

Classes can also be assigned to variables (including function arguments). This makes
writing dynamic code based on classes quite easy, as you can see from the following
generic class instance factory:

def instanceMaker(xclass, *args):

return apply(xclass, args)

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:
x = instanceMaker(MyClass)

# same as: x = MyClass()

Inheritance
The ability to inherit from classes is a fundamental to object-oriented programming.
Jython supports both single and multiple-inheritance. Single inheritance means there
can be only one superclass; multiple inheritance means there can be more than one
superclass.
Inheritance is implemented by subclassing other classes. These classes can be either
other Jython classes or Java classes. Any number of pure-Jython classes or Java
interfaces can be superclasses but only one Java class can be (directly or indirectly)
inherited from. You are not required to supply a superclass.
Any attribute or method in a superclass is also in any subclass and may be used by the
class itself or any client (assuming it is publicly visible). Any instance of a subclass can
be used wherever an instance of the superclass can be used -- this is an example of
polymorphism. These features enable reuse, rapid development, and ease of
extension.
Below are some examples of inheritance:

class Class1: pass

# no inheritance

class Class2: pass

class Class3(Class1): pass

# single inheritance

class Class4(Class3,Class2): pass # multiple inheritance

from java import awt
from java import io
# inherit a Java class and interface and a Jython class
class MyPanel(awt.Panel, io.Serializable, Class2):
:

The init method with inheritance

The __init__ method of a subclass must call any __init__ method defined for its
superclass; this is not automatic. The two examples below demonstrate how the

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__init__ method can be used with inheritance.

class Class1(SuperClass):
def __init__ (self):
SuperClass.__init__(self)
self.data = []
class Class2(SuperClass):
def __init__ (self, v1, v2):
SuperClass.__init__(self, v1)
self.v2 = v2

# no arguments
# init my super-class
# set implicit data
# 2 required arguments
# init my super-class with v1

And here are some examples of initializing with multiple inheritance:

class Class1(Super1, Super2):

def __init__ (self):
Super1.__init__(self)
Super2.__init__(self)
self.data = []

# no arguments
# init each super-class
# set implicit data

class Class2(Super1, Super2):

def __init__ (self, v1, v2, v3):
# 3 required arguments
# note you may do work before calling the super __init__ methods
self.v3 = v3
# set data from parameter
Super1.__init__(self, v1)
# init each super-class
Super2.__init__(self, v2)

Calling superclass methods

You can call any superclass method by qualifying it with the class name, as shown
here:

class Class1:
def method1 (self):
:
class Class2(Class1):
def method1 (self):
:
Class1.method1(self)
:

# override method1
# call my super-class method

def method2 (self):

:
class Class3(Class2):
def method1 (self):
:
Class2.method1(self)

# override method1
# call my super-class method

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:
def method3 (self):
:

Note that the secondary method definitions (in Class2 and Class3) override the
superclass definitions. There is no requirement that the subclass method call its
superclass method; however, if it doesn't, then it must completely replace the function
of the superclass method.

Calling methods
There are two syntaxes for calling methods (assuming you have an instance of
MyClass referenced by variable mci):
mci.someMethod(...)
MyClass.someMethod(mci, ...)
The first form typically is used in class client coding while the second one is used more
often in subclasses to call superclass methods.

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Section 3. Advanced object-oriented programming

From theory to practice
In this section, we'll move from a conceptual overview of object-oriented programming
in Jython to a more advanced discussion, incorporating topics such as operator
overloading, special attributes, and introspection.

Special attributes
Jython classes provide support for several special attributes. The most significant are
shown below:
Name

Role

Comment(s)

__dict__

The object's writeable

attributes

Can be used to introspect the attributes

of an object

__class__

The class of an object

Access the class of the object (similar

to x.getClass() in Java coding)

__bases__

A tuple of the
Can be used to introspect the
immediate superclasses superclasses of the object
of the object

Changing the class of an existing instance

In Jython, unlike most other languages, you can change the class of an existing
instance. Doing this changes the methods you can then use on the instance to the
methods of the new class but not any of its pre-existing fields. For example, to change
the class of an instance, assign the new class to the __class__ special attribute (see
Special attributes on page 13 ), as shown below:

x = SomeClass()
print isinstance(x, SomeClass)
#
print isinstance(x, SomeOtherClass) #
:
# change the class (that is, the type)
x.__class__ = SomeOtherClass
print isinstance(x, SomeClass)
#

prints: 1 (true)
prints: 0 (false)
of the instance here
prints: 0 (false)

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print isinstance(x, SomeOtherClass)

# prints: 1 (true)

y = SomeOtherClass()
print x.__class__ == y.__class__

# prints: 1 (true)

After this change, the x instance will support the methods of SomeOtherClass, not
SomeClass as it did previously. Take care when changing the class of an object that
the instance has the right attributes for the new class.

Introspecting attributes example

Here's a practical example using special attributes (see Special attributes on page 13 ).
The module printclass.py can introspect classes and instances to display their
attributes and methods. I'll talk about introspection a little later, or you can check
Introspection on page 16 . You can also see
String operations and functions on page 46
and Appendix K: Built-in functions on page 95 to learn more about the functions used
below. For right now, just focus on the use of the callable function, the vars
function (which implicitly uses the __dict__ attribute) and the __bases__ attribute.

__any__ = ['getMembers', 'printObject']

def addMember (list, item):
if not item in list:
list.append(item)
def getMembers (obj, memtype="attrs"):
""" Get all the members (of memtype) of the object. """
members = []
for name, value in vars(obj).items():
try:
item = obj.__name__, name, value
except:
item = "<instance>", name, value
if
memtype.lower().startswith("attr"):
if not callable(value):
addMember(members, item)
elif memtype.lower().startswith("meth"):
if callable(value):
addMember(members, item)
elif memtype.lower() == "all":
addMember(members, item)
try:
for base in obj.__bases__:
members.extend(getMembers(base, memtype))
except:
pass
return members
import sys

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def printObject (obj, stream=sys.stdout):

""" Print all the members of the object. """
members = getMembers(obj, "attrs")
members.sort()
print >>stream, "Attributes:"
for objname, memname, value in members:
print >>stream, " %s.%s" % (objname, memname)
members = getMembers(obj, "methods")
members.sort()
print >>stream, "Methods:"
for objname, memname, value in members:
print >>stream, " %s.%s" % (objname, memname)

Introspecting attributes example testcase

The following code uses the functions in the previous panel to introspect the
UserList class. See Operator overloading on page 21 for the definition of the
UserList class.

if __name__ == "__main__":
from UserList import UserList
class MyClass(UserList):
def __init__ (self, x, y):
UserList.__init__(self)
self.__x = x
self.__y = y
def method1 (self):
return self.x + self.y
def method2 (self, x, y):
return self.x + self.y + x + y
print "For class:", `MyClass`
printObject(MyClass)
print
aMyClass = MyClass(1, 2)
aMyClass.extend([1,2,3,4])
print "For instance:", `aMyClass`
printObject(aMyClass)

Output of get members

The following output (reformatted into multiple columns to save space) is the result of

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running the main code from the above module. Notice that the private fields and
methods (see Hidden variables on page 8 ) have mangled names.

For class: <class __main__.MyClass at 28921555>

Attributes:
Methods:
MyClass.__doc__
MyClass.__init__
MyClass.__module__
MyClass.method1
UserList.__doc__
MyClass.method2
UserList.__module__
UserList._UserList__cast
UserList.__add__
UserList.__cmp__
UserList.__contains__
UserList.__delitem__
UserList.__delslice__
UserList.__eq__
UserList.__ge__
UserList.__getitem__
UserList.__getslice__
UserList.__gt__
UserList.__iadd__
UserList.__imul__
UserList.__init__
UserList.__le__

UserList.__len__
UserList.__lt__
UserList.__mul__
UserList.__ne__
UserList.__radd__
UserList.__repr__
UserList.__rmul__
UserList.__setitem__
UserList.__setslice__
UserList.append
UserList.count
UserList.extend
UserList.index
UserList.insert
UserList.pop
UserList.remove
UserList.reverse
UserList.sort

For instance: [1, 2, 3, 4]

Attributes:
<instance>._MyClass__x
<instance>._MyClass__y
<instance>.data
Methods:

Note that methods and class attributes reside with classes and instance attributes
reside with instances. Yet all the class's methods can be applied to each instance.

Introspection
You will often need to determine, at runtime, the characteristics of an object. We call
this introspecting the object. The Java platform offers introspection services via the
java.lang.Class class and classes in the java.lang.reflect package. While
powerful, these APIs are somewhat difficult to use. As you probably already suspected,
Jython offers a simpler approach to introspection.
In Jython, we can use the dir and vars functions to examine the bindings for any
object, such as modules, functions, classes, sequences, maps, and more. To better
understand how this works, consider the following example. The output has been
inserted (and reformatted) after the print statements prefixed with "..." for easier
reading. The dir function returns only the binding names, while the vars function
returns the names and values; thus, when the same names are returned by both

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functions, we need use only the vars function, as shown below:

#-- empty start -print "vars:", vars()

...vars: {'__doc__': None, '__name__': '__main__'}
x
y
z
l
d

=
=
=
=
=

1
2
3
[x, y, z]
{x:"xxxx", y:"yyyy", z:"zzzz"}

#-- locals variables -print x, y, z, l, d

...1 2 3 [1, 2, 3] {3: 'zzzz', 2: 'yyyy', 1: 'xxxx'}
#-- plus locals variables -print "vars:", vars()
...vars: {'__name__': '__main__', 'x': 1, \
... 'd': {3: 'zzzz', 2: 'yyyy', 1: 'xxxx'}, '__doc__': None, \
... 'y': 2, 'l': [1, 2, 3], 'z': 3}
import sys
#-- plus import -print "vars:", vars()
...vars: {'__name__': '__main__', 'z': 3, 'l': [1, 2, 3], \
... '__doc__': None, 'y': 2, 'x': 1, 'sys': sys module, \
... 'd': {3: 'zzzz', 2: 'yyyy', 1: 'xxxx'}}
#-- sys import -print "vars sys:", vars(sys)
...vars sys: {'classLoader': \
...
<beanProperty classLoader type: java.lang.ClassLoader at 31845755>,
...
... many values removed ...,
... 'warnoptions': <reflected field public static \
...
org.python.core.PyList \
...
org.python.core.PySystemState.warnoptions at 1024901>}
del x, y, z
#-- post delete -print "vars:", vars()
...vars: {'__name__': '__main__', 'l': [1, 2, 3], '__doc__': None, \
... 'sys': sys module, 'd': {3: 'zzzz', 2: 'yyyy', 1: 'xxxx'}}
def func (x, y):
return x, y
class MyClass ():
def __init__ (self, x, y):
self.__x = x
self.__y = y
def method1 (self):
return self.x + self.y

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def method2 (self, x, y):

return self.x + self.y + x + y
#-- plus function and class -print "vars:", vars()
....vars: {'func': <function func at 21569784>, '__name__': '__main__', \
... 'l': [1, 2, 3], '__doc__': None, \
.... 'MyClass': <class __main__.MyClass at 1279942>, \
... 'sys': sys module, 'd': {3: 'zzzz', 2: 'yyyy', 1: 'xxxx'}}
#-- function -print "dir: ", dir(func)
# **** dir and vars different here ****
print "vars:", vars(func)
...dir: ['__dict__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'func_closure', \
... 'func_code', 'func_defaults', 'func_doc', 'func_globals', 'func_name']
...vars: None
#-- class -print "vars:", vars(MyClass)
...vars: {'__doc__': None, '__init__': <function __init__ at 17404503>, \
... 'method2': <function method2 at 23511968>, '__module__': '__main__', \
... 'method1': <function method1 at 28670096>}
myclass = MyClass(1, 2)
#-- instance -print "myclass:", myclass
print "vars:", vars(myclass)
...myclass: <__main__.MyClass instance at 19014134>
...vars: {'_MyClass__y': 2, '_MyClass__x': 1}

Note that dir(x) is generally equivalent to x.__dict__.keys() and vars(x) is

generally equivalent to x.__dict__.

Additional functions for introspection

The attributes described in Special attributes on page 13 allow additional introspection
of classes. In particular you can use the __dict__ attribute to determine the methods
in a class and the fields in an instance.
In addition to dir and vars, Jython provides several more functions for introspecting
classes and instances, as follows:
Function

Comment(s)

hasattr(obj, name)

Tests to see if the named attribute exists

getattr(obj, name {,
default})

Gets the named attribute if it exists; else default is

returned (or an exception is raised if no default is
provided)

setattr(obj, name,

Sets the named attribute's value

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value)
delattr(obj, name)

Removes the named attribute

See Appendix K: Built-in functions on page 95 to learn more about these functions.

Abstract classes
Abstract classes are classes in which some or all of the methods are missing or have
incomplete definitions. A subclass must be created to provide or complete these
method definitions. Concrete classes are not abstract (that is, all the methods are
complete). So far we have been working only with concrete classes. Abstract classes
are created to facilitate reuse. They provide a partial implementation of a design that
you can complete or extend by subclassing them.
To get a better understanding of how this works, we will create a simple abstract
command framework that supports command do, undo, and redo actions. Commands
are defined in (sub)classes and can be added easily by creating new do_... and
undo_... methods. We access these methods via introspection, as discussed in the
previous panels.

An abstract command framework

Here's the example abstract command framework:

class CommandProcessor:
# an abstract class
""" Process Commands. """
def __init__ (self):
self.__history = []
self.__redo = []
def execute (self, cmdName, *args):
""" Do some command """
self.__history.append( (cmdName, args) )
processor = getattr(self, "do_%s" % cmdName, None)
if processor:
return processor(*args)
else:
raise NameError, "cannot find do_%s" % cmdName
def undo (self, count=1):
""" Undo some (or all) commands in LIFO order """
self.__redo = []

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while count > 0 and len(self.__history) > 0:

cmdName, args = self.__history.pop()
count -= 1
processor = getattr(self, "undo_%s" % cmdName, None)
if processor:
self.__redo.append( (cmdName, args) )
processor(*args)
else:
raise NameError, "cannot find undo_%s" % cmdName
def redo (self, count=1):
""" Redo some (or all) undone commands """
while count > 0 and len(self.__redo) > 0:
cmdName, args = self.__redo.pop()
count -= 1
processor = getattr(self, "do_%s" % cmdName, None)
if processor:
processor(*args)
else:
raise NameError, "cannot find do_%s" % cmdName

Note:This example is based on code from Jython Essentials by Samuele Pedroni and
Noel Rappin (see Resources on page 73 for more information).

A test case for the example framework

Here's a test case for the example abstract command framework:

class MyProcessor (CommandProcessor): # a concrete subclass

def __init__ (self):
CommandProcessor.__init__(self)
def do_Cmd1 (self, args):
print "Do Command 1:", args
def do_Cmd2 (self, args):
print "Do Command 2:", args
def do_Cmd3 (self, args):
print "Do Command 3:", args
def undo_Cmd1 (self, args):
print "Undo Command 1:", args
def undo_Cmd2 (self, args):
print "Undo Command 2:", args
def undo_Cmd3 (self, args):
print "Undo Command 3:", args
mp = MyProcessor()

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print
print
print
print
print

"execute:"
"execute:"
"execute:"
"undo:
"
"redo:
"

;
;
;
;
;

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mp.execute("Cmd1", None)
mp.execute("Cmd2", (1,2,3))
mp.execute("Cmd3", "Hello")
mp.undo(2)
mp.redo(2)

print "execute:", ;mp.execute("BadCmd", "Hello")

The framework with the given test case produces the following output:

execute:
Do Command 1: None
execute:
Do Command 2: (1, 2, 3)
execute:
Do Command 3: Hello
undo:
Undo Command 3: Hello
Undo Command 2: (1, 2, 3)
redo:
Do Command 2: (1, 2, 3)
Do Command 3: Hello
execute:
Traceback (innermost last):
File "cmdproc.py", line 63, in ?
File "cmdproc.py", line 15, in execute
NameError: cannot find do_BadCmd

Operator overloading
Like C++, but unlike the Java language, Jython allows many of the standard language
operators to be overloaded by classes. This means classes can define a specific
meaning for the language operators. Jython also allows classes to emulate built-in
types like numbers, sequences, and maps. To learn more about emulation see
Appendix B: Common overloaded operators and methods on page 76 .
In the example that follows, we'll use the standard Jython UserList class definition to
show an example of operator overloading in practice. UserList is a class that wraps
a list and behaves as a list does. Most of its function is delegated (passed on to) its
contained list, called data. In a more realistic example, these overloaded functions
would be implemented to access some other store, such as a disk file or a database.

class UserList:
def __init__(self, initlist=None):
self.data = []
if initlist is not None:
if
type(initlist) == type(self.data):
self.data[:] = initlist
elif isinstance(initlist, UserList):

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self.data[:] = initlist.data[:]
else:
self.data = list(initlist)
def __cast(self, other):
if isinstance(other, UserList): return other.data
else:
return other
# `self`, repr(self)
def __repr__(self): return repr(self.data)
# self < other
def __lt__(self, other): return self.data <

self.__cast(other)

# self <= other

def __le__(self, other): return self.data <= self.__cast(other)
# self == other
def __eq__(self, other): return self.data == self.__cast(other)
# self != other, self <> other
def __ne__(self, other): return self.data != self.__cast(other)
# self > other
def __gt__(self, other): return self.data >

self.__cast(other)

# self >= other

def __ge__(self, other): return self.data >= self.__cast(other)
# cmp(self, other)
def __cmp__(self, other):
raise RuntimeError, "UserList.__cmp__() is obsolete"
# item in self
def __contains__(self, item): return item in self.data
# len(self)
def __len__(self): return len(self.data)
# self[i]
def __getitem__(self, i): return self.data[i]
# self[i] = item
def __setitem__(self, i, item): self.data[i] = item
# del self[i]
def __delitem__(self, i): del self.data[i]
# self[i:j]
def __getslice__(self, i, j):
i = max(i, 0); j = max(j, 0)
return self.__class__(self.data[i:j])
# self[i:j] = other
def __setslice__(self, i, j, other):
i = max(i, 0); j = max(j, 0)
if
isinstance(other, UserList):
self.data[i:j] = other.data

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elif isinstance(other, type(self.data)):

self.data[i:j] = other
else:
self.data[i:j] = list(other)
# del self[i:j]
def __delslice__(self, i, j):
i = max(i, 0); j = max(j, 0)
del self.data[i:j]
# self + other
(join)
def __add__(self, other):
if
isinstance(other, UserList):
return self.__class__(self.data + other.data)
elif isinstance(other, type(self.data)):
return self.__class__(self.data + other)
else:
return self.__class__(self.data + list(other))
# other + self
(join)
def __radd__(self, other):
if
isinstance(other, UserList):
return self.__class__(other.data + self.data)
elif isinstance(other, type(self.data)):
return self.__class__(other + self.data)
else:
return self.__class__(list(other) + self.data)
# self += other (join)
def __iadd__(self, other):
if
isinstance(other, UserList):
self.data += other.data
elif isinstance(other, type(self.data)):
self.data += other
else:
self.data += list(other)
return self
# self * other
(repeat)
def __mul__(self, n):
return self.__class__(self.data*n)
__rmul__ = __mul__
# self *= other (repeat)
def __imul__(self, n):
self.data *= n
return self
# implement "List" functions below:
def append(self, item): self.data.append(item)
def insert(self, i, item): self.data.insert(i, item)
def pop(self, i=-1): return self.data.pop(i)
def remove(self, item): self.data.remove(item)

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def count(self, item): return self.data.count(item)

def index(self, item): return self.data.index(item)
def reverse(self): self.data.reverse()
def sort(self, *args): apply(self.data.sort, args)
def extend(self, other):
if isinstance(other, UserList):
self.data.extend(other.data)
else:
self.data.extend(other)

Nested classes
Like functions, classes can be nested. Nested classes in Jython work similarly to static
inner classes in the Java language. Here's an example:

class MyDataWrapper:
class Data: pass

# inner data structure class

def __init__ (self):

self.data = Data()
def set (self, name, value):
setattr(self.data, name, value)
def get (self, name, default=None):
return getattr(self.data, name, default)

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Section 4. Debugging Jython

Using print statements for debugging
Like any programming language, Jython supports the use of print statements for
debugging. To implement this debugging solution, we simply add a print statement to
a program, run the program, and examine the generated output for clues to the bugs.
While very basic, this debugging solution is in many cases completely satisfactory.
Here's an example print statement for debugging.

:
def myFunc(x):
print "x at entry:", x
:
print "x at exit:", x
return x
:
z = myFunc(20)

The Jython debugger

For the times when the print-statement solution isn't sufficient for your debugging
needs, Jython provides a simple, command-line debugger similar to the jdb debugger
for the Java platform. The Jython debugger is written entirely in Jython and can thus be
easily examined or extended. In addition, Jython provides a set of abstract base
debugging classes to allow other debuggers, such as a GUI debugger, to be built on
this framework.
To launch the debugger run the following command:

c:\>jython c:\jython-2.1\lib\pdb.py <test_module>.py

An example Jython debugging session

Debugger commands are enterred after the debugger prompt "(Pdb)." Here's an
example debugging session using the factor.py module (see The factorial engine:
factor.py on page 67 ):

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C:\Articles>jython \jython-2.1\lib\pdb.py factor.py

> C:\Articles\<string>(0)?()
(Pdb) step
> C:\Articles\<string>(1)?()
(Pdb) step
> C:\Articles\factor.py(0)?()
(Pdb) list 67
62
try:
63
print "For", value, "result =",
fac.calculate(value)
64
except ValueError, e:
65
print "Exception -", e
66
67
doFac(-1)
68
doFac(0)
69
doFac(1)
70
doFac(10)
71
doFac(100)
72
doFac(1000)
(Pdb) tbreak 67
Breakpoint 1 at C:\Articles\factor.py:67
(Pdb) continue
factor.py running...
Deleted breakpoint 1
> C:\Articles\factor.py(67)?()
-> doFac(-1)
(Pdb) next
For -1 result = Exception - only positive integers supported: -1
> C:\Articles\factor.py(68)?()
-> doFac(0)
(Pdb) next
For 0 result = 1
> C:\Articles\factor.py(69)?()
-> doFac(1)
(Pdb) next
For 1 result = 1
> C:\Articles\factor.py(70)?()
-> doFac(10)
(Pdb) next
For 10 result = 3628800
> C:\Articles\factor.py(71)?()
-> doFac(100)
(Pdb) next
For 100 result =
93326215443944152681699238856266700490715968264381621468592963895217599
99322991560894146397615651828625
3697920827223758251185210916864000000000000000000000000
> C:\Articles\factor.py(72)?()
-> doFac(1000)
(Pdb) next
For 1000 result = 402387260077 ... many other digits deleted ...
0000000000000000000000
--Return-> C:\Articles\factor.py(72)?()->None
-> doFac(1000)
(Pdb) next
--Return--

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> C:\Articles\<string>(1)?()->None
(Pdb) next
C:\Articles>

To learn more about debugging with the Jython debugger, see Appendix C: Jython
debugger commands on page 79 .

Jython profiler
Sometimes you may notice that a Jython program runs longer than you expect. You
can use the Jython profiler to find out what sections of the program take the longest
time and optimize them. The profiler will let you profile entire programs or just individual
functions.
Here's an example run, profiling the factor.py program (see The factorial engine:
factor.py on page 67 ):

c:\>jython \jython-2.1\lib\profile.py \articles\factor.py

\articles\factor.py running...
For -1 result = Exception - only positive integers supported: -1
For 0 result = 1
For 1 result = 1
For 10 result = 3628800
For 100 result =
93326215443944152681699238856266700490715968264381621468592963895217599
99322991560894146397615651828625369792082722375825118521091686400000000
0000000000000000
For 1000 result = 402387260077 ... many other digits deleted ...
0000000000000000000000
237 function calls (232 primitive calls) in 0.250 CPU seconds
Ordered by: standard name
ncalls tottime percall cumtime percall
1
0.130
0.130
0.240
0.240
1
0.000
0.000
0.110
0.110
220
0.010
0.000
0.010
0.000
factor.py:27(fireListeners)
6
0.060
0.010
0.070
0.012
1
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
1
0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000
6/1
0.040
0.007
0.110
0.110
1
0.010
0.010
0.250
0.250
profile:0(execfile('\\articles\\factor.py'))
0
0.000
0.000

filename:lineno(function)
<string>:0(?)
factor.py:0(?)
\
factor.py:34(calculate)
factor.py:5(Factorial)
factor.py:6(__init__)
factor.py:61(doFac)
\
profile:0(profiler)

From this run you can see that (besides the initial startup code) most of the program
time is being used by the calculate function. For more information on profiling

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Jython see the Python Reference Manual, available in Resources on page 73 .

Assertions
Like C and the Java language (as of version 1.4), Jython supports assertions.
Assertions are conditions that must be true for the program to work correctly; if they are
not true the program may behave unpredictably. Often they are used to validate input
values to functions. Jython's support for assertions comes in the form of the following
assert statement:

assert expression {, message}

Note that expression is any Jython expression; if it is false an

exceptions.AssertionError exception is raised. If message is provided, it
becomes the message associated with the exception. For example:

:
def myFunc(x):
assert x >= 0, "argument %r must be >= 0" % x
return fac(x)
:
z = myFunc(20)
# no exception raised
z = myFunc(-1)

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Section 5. Java support in Jython

Using Java services in Jython code
One of Jython's most powerful features is its ability to interface with Java code. A
Jython program can create instances of any Java class and call any method on any
Java instance. Jython can also subclass Java classes, allowing Java code to call
Jython code. Jython makes calling Java methods very easy by making strong but
transparent use of the Java Reflection API (package java.lang.reflect).
To complete this section of the tutorial, you need to be familiar with the Java language
and select Java runtime APIs. You should understand the basic notions of
object-oriented programming on the Java platform, as well as being familiar with the
Java data types, classes, threads, and the services in the java.lang, java.util,
java.io and javax.swing packages.
Note:Because the reflection APIs have been highly optimized in version 1.4, Jython
runs much faster on Java version 1.4 and above.

Calling Jython from Java code

As shown in Inheritance on page 10 , a Jython class can subclass Java classes.
Subclassing makes it very easy to extend Java classes (such as GUI components).
This allows Java code to call Jython code without realizing it is Jython code. It also
makes it possible to implement in Jython classes used by other Java code, as shown in
the following example:

from java import util

class MyArray(util.ArrayList): # subclass a Java class
:
def get (self, index):
# override the get method
"@sig public java.lang.Object get(int index)"
if 0 <= index < self.size:
return util.ArrayList.get(self, index)
return None
# OutOfBounds now returns null

After being compiled by jythonc the above class can be used in Java code anywhere
an java.util.ArrayList instance can be used. Note that when calling a
superclass method, the self value is passed as an argument.

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Calling Java classes from Jython

In addition to subclassing Java classes it is also possible to access Java classes
directly in Jython. For example, this code sequence:

from java.util import Date

:
d = Date()
# now
print d, d.time, d.getTime()

will produce the following output:

Tue Dec 02 14:44:02 CST 2003 1070397842496 1070397842496

Using JavaBean properties from Jython

In the example from Calling Java classes from Jython on page 30 you may have
noticed that the expressions d.time and d.getTime() produce the same result. This
is because they do the same thing. Jython has a very convenient feature that makes
JavaBean properties appear as Jython attributes. JavaBean properties are defined by
(typically) matching pairs of Java methods of the following form, where <type> is the
type of the property and <name> is the name of the property.:

<type> get<name>()
-- and -void set<name>(<type> value)

For example the Java methods long getTime() { ... } and void
setTime(long t) { ... } define the long property time. Thus a Jython reference
d.time is automatically and dynamically converted into the Java expression
d.getTime().
Jython can also set properties, thus d.time = 1000000L is allowed. The Jython
reference d.time = value is automatically and dynamically converted into the Java
expression d.setTime(value). Once this change is applied, the print statement
from Calling Java classes from Jython on page 30 results in the following:

Wed Dec 31 18:01:40 CST 1969 100000 100000

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Calling methods on Java objects

It is very easy to call methods on Java objects; just call them like they are Jython
methods. Jython automatically maps parameter and return values to and from Jython
and Java types. For example, here is a short sequence of Jython that uses Java
classes and methods extensively:

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:

from javax import swing

import sys
f = swing.JFrame(sys.argv[1], size=(200,200),
defaultCloseOperation=swing.JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE)
f.contentPane.add(swing.JLabel(sys.argv[2]))
f.visible = 1

This code sequence creates and shows a GUI frame window. The script's first
command-line argument becomes the title and the second the content text. Line 4
creates the frame, passing in the title, the desired size, and a close action. The size
and defaultCloseOperation parameters are properties as described above and,
as such, may be (quite conveniently) set in the JFrame's constructor when invoked
from a Jython program. The title is set as a parameter of the JFrame's equivalent of
the __init__ method. Line 6 accesses the JFrame's contentPane property and
calls its add method to add a JLabel to show the second argument. Line 7 makes the
frame visible by setting its visible property to 1 (true).
A sample of this GUI is shown below:

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Overriding Java methods and properties

As shown in Calling Jython from Java code on page 29 , when overriding Java
methods in classes that can be called from the Java language, you need to provide
signature information. This is done via documentation comments. The first line of the
comment, if it starts with "@sig", is used as a directive to the jythonc program
(discussed in Part 1) to generate a Java-compatible method signature. For example,
the comment below describes the get method using the Java language's declaration
syntax. In signatures types must be fully qualified.

"@sig public java.lang.Object get(int index)"

Jython does not support overloaded methods, which are methods with the same name
but with differing number and/or types of arguments. Instead, Jython supports
defaulted arguments and variable number of arguments, which can create a problem if
you inherit from a Java class that uses overloading and you want to override the
overloaded methods. In Jython, you must define the base method and accept a varying
number of arguments. Consider the (rather impractical) example of an InputStream
that always returns a blank:

from java import io

class AlwaysBlank(io.InputStream):
# covers all forms of read(...)
def read(self, *args):
if len(args) > 0:
# covers forms: int read(byte[])
#
int read(byte[], int off, int len)
return apply(io.InputStream.read, (self,) + args)
else:
# covers form: int read()
return ord(' ')

This code is based on an example from the Jython home page.

Java arrays from Jython

Jython supports the creation of Java-style array objects. Arrays are used primarily to
pass arrays to and return arrays from Java methods, but they are general purpose and
can be used in pure Jython code. Array elements are typed using Java base and class
types. Arrays act much like Jython lists but they cannot change length.

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Array support is provided by the jarray module. The two functions in the jarray
module, zeros and array, are used to create arrays. The array function maps a
Jython sequence to a Java array. Some examples are as follows:

from jarray import zeros, array

from java import util
from javax import swing
a1 = zeros(100, 'i')
a2 = array([1,2,10,-5,7], 'i')

# an array of 100 int 0s

# an array of ints as listed

# an array of doubles 0.0 to 49.0

a3 = array([i * 1.0 for i in range(50)], 'd')
a4 = zeros(10, util.Map)
# an array of 10 null Maps
a5 = array((swing.JFrame("F1"), # an array of 3 JFrames
swing.JFrame("F2"),
swing.JFrame("F3")), swing.JFrame)
a6 = array("Hello", 'c')
# an array of characters

See Appendix A: Character codes for array types on page 76 for a listing of character
codes for array types.

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Section 6. Java thread support in Jython

Java threads
The Java runtime makes extensive use of threads, which it uses to handle GUI events,
to perform asynchronous I/O, to implement asynchronous processing, and so on.
It's easy to create Java threads in Jython: just create instances of
java.lang.Thread and subclasses of java.lang.Runnable. For an example, see
The GUI: fgui.py on page 69 . You can also create threads out of Jython functions by
using the thread module and functions of the following form:

start_new_thread(function, args)
-- and -exit()

The start_new_thread function runs the function argument in a new Java thread,
passing the args tuple value to the function. The exit function can be used in the
thread to end it (generally as the target of an if statement).

Java synchronization
When developing multithreaded programs using Java or Jython threads, it is
sometimes necessary to create synchronized functions (or methods). Synchronized
functions are functions that can only be called from one thread at a time; meaning that
other threads are prevented from entering the function until the first thread exits. Jython
provides the synchronized module and two functions to create synchronized
functions. The functions are of the following form:

make_synchronized(function)
-- and -apply_synchronized(syncobj, function, pargs {, kwargs})

The make_synchronized function permanently synchronizes the function

argument. The apply_synchronized function temporarily synchronizes on syncobj
and then calls the function argument.

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Example: Using make_synchronized

Using make_synchronized to signal events is quite straightforward, as shown below:

from synchronize import *

from java import lang
# define synchronization helpers
def waitForSignal (monitor):
""" Wait until the monitor is signaled. """
lang.Object.wait(monitor)
# replace with synchronized version; syncs on 1st argument
waitForSignal = make_synchronized(waitForSignal)
def notifySignal (monitor):
""" Signal monitor. """
lang.Object.notifyAll(monitor)
# replace with synchronized version; syncs on 1st argument
notifySignal = make_synchronized(notifySignal)
class Gui:
# GUI support
:
def doExit (self):
self.visible = 0
notifySignal(self)
if __name__ == "__main__":
# main code
:
gui = Gui()
:
print "Waiting until GUI exit requested..."
waitForSignal(gui)
print "Done"

A Jython threading example

Here's an example of the use of Jython threads. The example shows a set of producer
and consumer threads sharing access to a common buffer. We'll start with the
definition of the shared buffer, as shown below.

""" A Jython Thread Example. """

from
from
from
from

java import lang

synchronize import *
thread import start_new_thread
sys import stdout

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def __waitForSignal (monitor):

apply_synchronized(monitor, lang.Object.wait, (monitor,))
def __signal (monitor):
apply_synchronized(monitor, lang.Object.notifyAll, (monitor,))
def __xprint (stream, msg):
print >>stream, msg
def xprint (msg, stream=stdout):
""" Synchronized print. """
apply_synchronized(stream, __xprint, (stream, msg))
class Buffer:
""" A thread-safe buffer. """
def __init__ (self, limit=-1):
self.__limit = limit
# the max size of the buffer
self.__data = []
self.__added = ()
# used to signal data added
self.__removed = ()
# used to signal data removed
def __str__ (self):
return "Buffer(%s,%i)" % (self.__data, self.__limit)
def __len__ (self):
return len(self.__data)
def add (self, item):
""" Add an item. Wait if full. """
if self.__limit >= 0:
while len(self.__data) > self.__limit:
__waitForSignal(self.__removed)
self.__data.append(item);
xprint("Added: %s" % item)
__signal(self.__added)
def __get (self):
item = self.__data.pop(0)
__signal(self.__removed)
return item
def get (self, wait=1):
""" Remove an item. Wait if empty. """
item = None
if wait:
while len(self.__data) == 0:
__waitForSignal(self.__added)
item = self.__get()
else:
if len(self.__data) > 0: item = self.__get()
xprint("Removed: %s" % item)
return item
get = make_synchronized(get)

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Producer and consumer definitions

The next step in the example is to take a look at the producer and consumer
definitions, shown here:

class Producer:
def __init__ (self, name, buffer):
self.__name = name
self.__buffer = buffer
def __add (self, item):
self.__buffer.add(item)
def __produce (self, *args):
for item in args:
self.__add(item)
def produce (self, items):
start_new_thread(self.__produce, tuple(items))
class Consumer:
def __init__ (self, name, buffer):
self.__name = name
self.__buffer = buffer
def __remove (self):
item = self.__buffer.get()
return item
def __consume (self, count):
for i in range(count):
self.__remove()
def consume (self, count=1):
start_new_thread(self.__consume, (count,))

An trial run of the threading example

And finally, here's a trial run of the example code:

# all producers and consumer share this one

buf = Buffer(5)
p1
p2
p3
p4
c1

=
=
=
=
=

Producer("P1",
Producer("P2",
Producer("P3",
Producer("P4",
Consumer("C1",

buf)
buf)
buf)
buf)
buf)

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c2 = Consumer("C2", buf)
# create 6 items
p1.produce(["P1 Message " + str(i) for i in range(3)])
p2.produce(["P2 Message " + str(i) for i in range(3)])
# consume 20 items
for i in range(5):
c1.consume(2)
c2.consume(2)
# create 20 more items
p3.produce(["P3 Message " + str(i) for i in range(10)])
p4.produce(["P4 Message " + str(i) for i in range(10)])
# consume 4 items
c1.consume(2)
c2.consume(2)
# let other threads run
lang.Thread.currentThread().sleep(5000)
xprint("Buffer has %i item(s)left" % len(buf))

Output of the example

The producer consumer example produces the following results (wrapped to two
columns to save space):

Added: P1 Message 0
Added: P1 Message 1
Added: P1 Message 2
Added: P2 Message 0
Added: P2 Message 1
Added: P2 Message 2
Removed: P1 Message
Removed: P1 Message
Removed: P1 Message
Removed: P2 Message
Removed: P2 Message
Removed: P2 Message
Added: P3 Message 0
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 1
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 2
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 3
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 4
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 5

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0
1
2
0
1
2
0
1
2
3
4

Added: P3 Message 7
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 8
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P3 Message 9
Removed: P3 Message
Added: P4 Message 0
Removed: P4 Message
Added: P4 Message 1
Removed: P4 Message
Added: P4 Message 2
Removed: P4 Message
Added: P4 Message 3
Removed: P4 Message
Added: P4 Message 4
Added: P4 Message 5
Added: P4 Message 6
Added: P4 Message 7
Added: P4 Message 8
Added: P4 Message 9
Removed: P4 Message
Removed: P4 Message
Removed: P4 Message

7
8
9
0
1
2
3

4
5
6

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Removed: P3 Message 5
Added: P3 Message 6
Removed: P3 Message 6

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Removed: P4 Message 7
Buffer has 2 item(s)left

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Section 7. Interfacing with Java services

Creating the interface
Often you will need to use Java services from within Jython code. In these cases, you
can either do it openly each time you need to use a given service, or you can wrap the
Java services in a Jython library function and use that function in your Jython code.
The second option is recommended because it encapsulates and abstracts the Java
code.

Wrapping Java services in Jython

As an example of how you might wrap a Java service in a Jython library function, we'll
take a look at the JavaUtils.py module excerpts. The JavaUtils module is
introduced by the code below. See Part 1 of this tutorial to refresh your memory about
modules.

""" This module defines several functions to ease interfacing with Java code."""
from types import *
from java import lang
from java import util
from java import io
# only expose these
__all__ = ['loadProperties', 'getProperty',
'mapToJava', 'mapFromJava', 'parseArgs']

Accessing Java properties files

You will often need to access Java properties files to get configuration information.
Jython lets you use the loadProperties and getProperty functions for this, as
shown below:

def loadProperties (source):

""" Load a Java properties file into a Dictionary. """
result = {}
if type(source) == type(''):
# name provided, use file

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source = io.FileInputStream(source)
bis = io.BufferedInputStream(source)
props = util.Properties()
props.load(bis)
bis.close()
for key in props.keySet().iterator():
result[key] = props.get(key)
return result
def getProperty (properties, name, default=None):
""" Gets a property. """
return properties.get(name, default)

Properties file example

So, for example, if you were to use the functions from Accessing Java properties files
on page 40 as shown below

import sys
file = sys.argv[1]
props = loadProperties(file)
print "Properties file: %s, contents:" % file
print props
print "Property %s = %i" % ('debug', int(getProperty(props, 'debug', '0')))

with the properties file content of

# This is a test properties file

debug = 1
error.level = ERROR
now.is.the.time = false

then the resulting output would be:

Properties file: test.properties, contents:

{'error.level': 'ERROR', 'debug': '1', 'now.is.the.time': 'false'}
Property debug = 1

Mapping Java types

Sometimes you need to create pure-Java objects in Jython (for example, when you
need to create objects to send across a network to a Java-based server, or when you
need to pass the object to a type-sensitive Java service, such as with Swing table cell
values). To convert Jython built-in types to Java types (and vice versa) use the

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functions in the following example (a continuation of the JavaUtils.py module

excerpt from Wrapping Java services in Jython on page 40 ):

def mapMapFromJava (map):

""" Convert a Map to a Dictionary. """
result = {}
iter = map.keySet().iterator()
while iter.hasNext():
key = iter.next()
result[mapFromJava(key)] = mapFromJava(map.get(key))
return result
def mapCollectionFromJava (coll):
""" Convert a Collection to a List. """
result = []
iter = coll.iterator();
while iter.hasNext():
result.append(mapFromJava(iter.next()))
return result
def mapFromJava (object):
""" Convert a Java type to a Jython type. """
if object is None: return object
if
isinstance(object, util.Map):
result = mapMapFromJava(object)
elif isinstance(object, util.Collection):
result = mapCollectionFromJava(object)
else:
result = object
return result
def mapSeqToJava (seq):
""" Convert a sequence to a Java ArrayList. """
result = util.ArrayList(len(seq))
for e in seq:
result.add(mapToJava(e));
return result
def mapDictToJava (dict):
""" Convert a Dictionary to a Java HashMap. """
result = util.HashMap()
for key, value in dict.items():
result.put(mapToJava(key), mapToJava(value))
return result
def mapToJava (object):
""" Convert a Jython type to a Java type. """
if object is None: return object
t = type(object)
if
t == TupleType or t == ListType:
result = mapSeqToJava(object)
elif t == DictType:
result = mapDictToJava(object)
else:
result = object
return result

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After using mapToJava, these types can be written to a

java.io.ObjectOutputStream. After reading an object from a
java.io.ObjectInputStream, you can use mapFromJava to convert the object
back to a Jython type.
Note that these methods support a limited but broadly used set of built-in Jython types.
Jython automatically converts value-like types such as numbers and strings. User
defined classes are not supported.

Mapping Java types, continued

To continue the example, the following usage of the mapping functions discussed on
the previous panel as shown here:

data = (1,2,3, [1,2,3], [c for c in "Hello!"], "Hello!", {1:'one', 2:'two'})

print "data:", data
toJava = mapToJava(data)
print "toJava:", toJava
fromJava = mapFromJava(toJava)
print "fromJava:", fromJava
print
print "type(%s)=%s" % ("data", type(data))
print "type(%s)=%s" % ("toJava", type(toJava))
print "type(%s)=%s" % ("fromJava", type(fromJava))

prints:

data: (1, 2, 3, [1, 2, 3], ['H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '!'], 'Hello!', \
{2: 'two', 1: 'one'})
toJava: [1, 2, 3, [1, 2, 3], [H, e, l, l, o, !], Hello!, {2=two, 1=one}]
fromJava: [1, 2, 3, [1, 2, 3], ['H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '!'], 'Hello!', \
{2: 'two', 1: 'one'}]
type(data)=org.python.core.PyTuple
type(toJava)=org.python.core.PyJavaInstance
type(fromJava)=org.python.core.PyList

Notice that the PyTuple became a PyJavaInstance and then a PyList. Also notice
that the toJava form formats differently. This is because it is a Java object and it's
being printed by the Java toString() method, not Jython repr() function.
PyJavaInstance is a type Jython will pass as is to a Java API. Finally, notice that the
data and fromJava values are the same except that the tuple is now an equivalent
list. For more about Jython types see Appendix L: Jython types summary on page 99 .

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Parsing command lines

Frequently you need to extract command parameters with more processing than simple
use of sys.argv provides. The parseArgs function can be used to get any
command line arguments as a (tuple of) sequence of positional arguments and a
dictionary of switches.
So, continuing the JavaUtils.py module excerpt (from Wrapping Java services in
Jython on page 40 and Mapping Java types on page 41 , respectively), we see this:

def parseArgs (args, validNames, nameMap=None):

""" Do some simple command line parsing. """
# validNames is a dictionary of valid switch names #
the value (if any) is a conversion function
switches = {}
positionals = []
for arg in args:
if arg[0] == '-':
# a switch
text = arg[1:]
name = text; value = None
posn = text.find(':')
# any value comes after a :
if posn >= 0:
name = text[:posn]
value = text[posn + 1:]
if nameMap is not None:
# a map of valid switch names
name = nameMap.get(name, name)
if validNames.has_key(name):
# or - if name in validNames:
mapper = validNames[name]
if mapper is None: switches[name] = value
else:
switches[name] = mapper(value)
else:
print "Unknown switch ignored -", name
else:
positionals.append(arg)
return positionals, switches

# a positional argument

This function could be used as follows (in file parsearg.py):

from sys import argv

from JavaUtils import parseArgs
switchDefs = {'s1':None, 's2':int, 's3':float, 's4':int}
args, switches = parseArgs(argv[1:], switchDefs)
print "args:", args
print "switches:", switches

For the command c:\>jython parsearg.py 1 2 3 -s1 -s2:1 ss -s4:2, it

prints:

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args: ['1', '2', '3', 'ss']

switches: {'s4': 2, 's2': 1, 's1': None}

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Section 8. Jython string processing

String operations and functions
Like most scripting languages, such as Perl and Rexx, Jython has extensive support
for manipulating strings. This support is generally similar to the support provide by the
Java language but it is often simpler and easier to use. In this section, we will talk
about some of the more commonly used string operations and functions. See Part 1 of
this tutorial and the Python Library Reference to learn more about string methods.
In the examples in the next few sections I will use the following values:

name
addr
v1 =
s1 =
sent

="Barry Feigenbaum"
= '12345 Any Street"
100; v2 = v1 * 1.5; v3 = -v2; v4 = 1 / v2
"String 1"; s2 = "String 2"
= "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain."

Getting string forms of objects

To get a string representation of any value or expression (that is, object) use one of the
following functions:
str(expr) creates a human-oriented string.
repr(expr) or `expr` creates (where possible) a computer-oriented string from which
the eval function can re-create the value.
Note that for many types, including basic types, str(x) and repr(x) generate the
same (or very similar) strings.

Basic string operations

A string is a built-in type, acting both as a value and as an object with methods. Strings
support the basic operations of concatenation, indexing, containment, and formatting,
as well as the other operations of immutable sequences. We'll go over the basic string
operations, starting with concatenation.
We use the plus (+) operator to concatenate two strings. For example, the following

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line:
print "abc" + "xyz"

prints: abcxyz.
To select a character or characters (that is, a substring) from a string you use indexing.
For example: "abcxwy"[2] yields c, while "abcxwy"[2:4] yields cx.
Many of the string functions test conditions, thus they are often used in conjunction with
the if and while statements. Here's an example of how we could use containment
testing to see if a character were contained in a string:

if ' ' in name: print "space found"

-- or -if 'q' not in sent: print "q not found"

In addition to testing conditions, strings also support methods to test the nature of the
string. These are islower, isupper, isalnum, isnum, isalpha, isspace, and
istitle. These methods test to see if all the characters in the strings meet these
conditions.

Additional methods
Strings support several methods that allow you to find and edit sub-strings, change
case, and a host of other actions. To find a string in another string use the find/rfind
or startswith/endswidth methods. For example:

if name.find(' ') >= 0: print "space found"

-- or -if name.find("Jones") < 0: print "Jones not in name"

Sometimes you need to edit the content of a string, for example to change its case or
insert or remove text from it. Jython supplies several methods to do this. To change
case, Jython has the lower, upper, swapcase, title, and capitalize methods.
To change the text of a string, use the replace method. For example, to match strings
often you want to ignore case or you may want to replace sub-strings:

if

s1.lower() == s2.lower(): print "equal"

-- or --

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newaddr = addr.replace("Street", "St.")

Often strings have extra blanks around them that are not important, such as when the
string is entered by a user. To remove these extra blanks use the lstrip, rstrip, or
strip methods. For example, to match a command entered by a user:

cmd = raw_input("Enter a command")

if cmd.lstrip.startswith("run "):
print "run command found"

Often you need to break strings into parts, such as the words in a sentence or join
multiple strings into one string. Jython supports the split, splitlines, and join
functions to do this. The split method splits a line into words, while splitlines
splits a file of lines into separate lines. The join method reverses split. You can
also join strings by concatenation as discussed above. For example, to extract the
words from a sentence and then rebuild the sentence use:

words = sent.split(' ')

sent2 = ' '.join(words)

# use space to separate words

# use space between words

Formatting program variables

It is very easy to format local or global variables using the modulus (%) operator. The
locals and globals functions return dictionaries for all the local and global
(respectively) variables. For example:

fname = "Barry"; lname = "Feigenbaum"

address = "1234 any St."
city = "Anytown"; state = "TX"; zip = "12345"
age = 30
children = 3
:
print "Hello %(fname)s from %(city)s, %(state)s." % locals()

prints Hello Barry from Anytown, TX.

See Appendix J: Formatting strings and values on page 94 for more about formatting
program variables.

Format operator examples

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Below are some format (%) operator examples. See Appendix J: Formatting strings
and values on page 94 for more examples.
Expression

Result

"Hello %s" % "Barry"

Hello Barry

"Count: %i, " "Avg Cost:

$%.2f; " "Max Cost: $%.2f" %
(10, 10.5, 50.25)

Count: 10, Avg Cost: $10.50; Max

Cost: $50.25

"This is %i%%" % 10

This is 10%

"My name is %(first)s

%(last)s!" %
{'last':'Feigenbaum',
'first':'Barry', 'mi':'A'}

My name is Barry Feigenbaum!

Using C-style printf

For those familiar with C's printf("... %x ...", v1, ..., vN) function, a
similar but enhanced service can be added in Jython, as shown here:

def printf(stream, format, *pargs, **kwargs):

# see Printing to files on page 62
for more information
if
pargs:
print >>stream, format % pargs
elif kwargs:
print >>stream, format % kwargs
else:
print >>stream, format

Using the above printf function definition, the following examples:

from sys import stdout

printf(stdout, "%s is %.1f years old and has %i children",
fname, age, children)
printf(stdout, "The %(name)s building has %(floors)d floors",
floors=105, name="Empire State")
printf(stdout, "Hello World!")

print:

Barry is 30.0 years old and has 3 children

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The Empire State building has 105 floors

Hello World!

Pretty printing
You can use the pprint module functions, in particular the pformat function, to print
complex data structures in a formatted form. For example, this code:

data = [[1,2,3], [4,5,6],{'1':'one', '2':'two'},

"jsdlkjdlkadlkad", [i for i in xrange(10)]]
print "Unformatted:"; print data
print
from pprint import pformat
print "Formatted:"; print pformat(data)

prints the following:

Unformatted:
[[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], {'2': 'two', '1': 'one'}, \
'jsdlkjdlkadlkad', [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]]
Formatted:
[[1, 2, 3],
[4, 5, 6],
{'2': 'two', '1': 'one'},
'jsdlkjdlkadlkad',
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]]

Using string functions

As an example of using the string operations from String operations and functions on
page 46 , the justify.py program (listed below) takes paragraphs of input and
formats them into pages. The text may be left-, center-, right-aligned, or justified. Page
margins may be specified. Header and/or footer text may be supplied.
See Resources on page 73 for some sample results of using this program.

import sys
def stripLines (lines):
""" Removed extra whitespace (that is, newlines). """
newlines = []

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for line in lines:

line = line.strip()
newlines.append(line)
return newlines
def splitParagraphs (lines):
""" Splits a set of lines into paragraphs. """
paras = []
para = ""
for line in lines:
if len(line) > 0:
# in paragraph
para += ' ' + line
else:
# between paragraphs
para = para.strip()
if len(para) > 0:
paras.append(para)
para = ""
return paras
class Formatter:
""" Formats and prints paragraphs.

"""

def __init__ (self, stream, pagelen=66, linewidth=85,

lmargin=10, rmargin=10, pindent=5,
alignment="justify",
headers=None, footers=None):
self.stream = stream
# stream to print on
# format settings
self.pagelen = pagelen
self.pindent = pindent
self.linewidth = linewidth
self.lmargin = lmargin
self.rmargin = rmargin
self.headers = headers
self.footers = footers
self.alignment = alignment
self.pagecount = 1
self.linecount = 0

# current page
# current line

def genLine (self, line):

print >>self.stream, line
self.linecount += 1
def outputLine (self, line):
self.testEndPage()
if not (self.linecount == 0 and len(line) == 0):
self.genLine(line)
def newPage (self):
if self.headers:
self.outputHeader()
def padPage (self):
while self.linecount < self.pagelen:
self.genLine("")

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def endPage (self):

if self.footers:
if len(self.footers) + self.linecount < self.pagelen:
self.padPage()
self.outputFooter()
else:
if self.linecount < self.pagelen:
self.padPage()
self.linecount = 0
self.pagecount += 1
self.genLine('-' * 20)
def testEndPage (self):
if self.footers:
if len(self.footers) + 1 + self.linecount >= self.pagelen:
self.endPage()
self.newPage()
else:
if self.linecount >= self.pagelen:
self.endPage()
self.newPage()
def padLine (self, line, firstline=0, lastline=0):
""" Add spaces as needed by alignment mode. """
if

self.alignment == "left":
adjust = firstline * self.pindent
#line = line

elif self.alignment == "center":

adjust = 0
pad = self.linewidth - adjust - len(line)
line = ' ' * (pad / 2) + line
elif self.alignment == "right":
adjust = 0
pad = self.linewidth - adjust - len(line)
line = ' ' * pad + line
elif self.alignment == "justify":
adjust = firstline * self.pindent
pad = self.linewidth - adjust - len(line)
line = ""
# add 1+ spaces between words to extend line
words = line.split()
xpad = pad
for word in words:
line += word + ' '
if not lastline and xpad > 0:
line += ' ' * (pad / len(words) + 1)
xpad -= 1
line = line.strip()
return ' ' * adjust + line
def format (self, line, firstline=0, lastline=0):
# indent by left margin

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return ' ' * self.lmargin + \

self.padLine(line.strip(), firstline, lastline)
def formatParagraph (self, para):
lcount = 0
adjust = self.pindent
line = ""
# process by words
words = para.split(' ')
for word in words:
line += ' '
# about to get too long
if len(line) + len(word) > self.linewidth - adjust:
line = self.format(line, lcount == 0, 0)
self.outputLine(line)
line = ""
lcount += 1
adjust = 0
line += word
# output last (only) line
if len(line) > 0:
line = self.format(line, lcount == 0, 1)
self.outputLine(line)
def outputHeader (self):
for line in self.headers:
self.genLine(' ' * self.lmargin + line.center(self.linewidth))
self.genLine("")
def outputFooter (self):
self.genLine("")
for line in self.footers:
self.genLine(' ' * self.lmargin + line.center(self.linewidth))
def outputPages (self, paras):
""" Format and print the paragraphs. """
self.newPage()
for para in paras:
self.formatParagraph(para)
self.outputLine("")
self.endPage()

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Section 9. Processing regular expressions

About regular expressions
As an extension to the find and replace functions described in String operations and
functions on page 46 , Jython supports regular expressions. Regular expressions (RE)
are strings that contain plain match text and control characters and provide an
extremely powerful string search and replace facility. Jython supports (at least) the
following forms of regular expressions:
re module is a built-in part of Jython.
Java works if you're running Jython on Java 1.4 or above.
Apache ORO works if you add the ORO package to your CLASSPATH.

Regular expression formats

The simplest RE is an exact string to match. More complex REs include special control
characters. The control characters allow you to create patterns of matching strings. For
more information on RE syntax and options see Appendix H: Regular expression
control characters on page 84 and the
Python Library Reference.
Below are some example REs and the strings they match:
Control character

Regular
expression

Matches

Does not
match

-- none --

abc

abc

ab
aabc
abcc

. - any character

a.c

abc

ac

axc

abbc

ac
* - optional repeating
subpattern

a.*c

abc

abcd

axc
ac
ac

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axxxxc
? - optional subpattern

a.?c

abc

ac
aabc

+ - required repeating
subpattern

a.+c

abc

ac

abbc

abcd

axxc
...|... - choice of subpattern

(...) - grouping

abc|def

a(xx)|(yy)c

abcef

abef

abdef

abcdef

axxc

axc

ayyc

ayc

axxyyc
(...)* - repeating grouping

a(xx)*c

ac

axxbxxc

axxc
axxxxc
(...)+ - required repeating
grouping

a(xx)+c

\c - match a special
character

\.\?\*\+

\s - matches white space

a\s*z

axxc

ac

axxxxc

axxbxxc

.?*+

?.*+
abcd

az

za

az

za

abyz

Regular expressions functions

The Jython re module provides support for regular expressions. re's primary functions
are findall, match, and search to find strings, and sub and subn to edit them. The
match function looks at the start of a string, the search function looks anywhere in a
string, and the findall function repeats search for each possible match in the
string. search is (by far) the most used of the regular expression functions.
Here are some of the most common RE functions:
Function

Comment(s)

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match(pattern, string {,
options})

Matches pattern at the string start

search(pattern, string {,
options})

Matches pattern somewhere in the

string

findall(pattern, string)

Matches all occurrences of pattern in

the string

split(pattern, string {,
max})

Splits the string at matching points and

returns the results in a list

sub(pattern, repl, string {,

max})

Substitutes the match with repl for max

or all occurrences; returns the result

subn(pattern, repl, string {, Substitutes the match with repl for max
max})
or all occurrences; returns the tuple
(result, count)
Note that the matching functions return None if no match is found. Otherwise the
match functions will return a Match object from which details of the match can be
found. See the Python Library Reference for more information on Match objects.

Two function examples

Let's take a look at some examples of regular expressions functions in action:

import re
# do a fancy string match
if re.search(r"^\s*barry\s+feigenbaum\s*$", name, re.I):
print "It's Barry alright"
# replace the first name with an initial
name2 = re.sub(r"(B|b)arry", "B.", name)

If you are going to use the same pattern repeatedly, such as in a loop, you can speed
up execution by using the compile function to compile the regular expression into a
Pattern object and then using that object's methods, as shown here:

import re
patstr = r"\s*abc\s*"
pat = re.compile(patstr)
# print all lines matching patstr
for s in stringList:
if pat.match(s, re.I): print "%r matches %r" % (s, patstr)

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Regular expression example: Grep

The following simplified version of the Grep utility (from grep.py) offers a more
complete example of a Jython string function.

""" A simplified form of Grep. """

import sys, re
if len(sys.argv) != 3:
print "Usage: jython grep.py <pattern> <file>"
else:
# process the arguments
pgm, patstr, filestr = sys.argv
print "Grep - pattern: %r file: %s" % (patstr, filestr)
pat = re.compile(patstr) # prepare the pattern
# see File I/O in Jython on page 58
for more information
file = open(filestr)
# access file for read
lines = file.readlines() # get the file
file.close()
count = 0
# process each line
for line in lines:
match = pat.search(line)
# try a match
if match:
# got a match
print line
print "Matching groups: " + str(match.groups())
count += 1
print "%i match(es)" % count

When run on the words.txt file from File I/O in Jython on page 58 , the program produces
the following result:

C:\Articles>jython grep.py "(\w*)!" words.txt

Grep - pattern: '(\\w*)!' file: words.txt
How many times must I say it; Again! again! and again!
Matched on: ('Again',)
Singing in the rain! I'm singing in the rain! \
Just singing, just singing, in the rain!
Matched on: ('rain',)
2 match(es)

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Section 10. File I/O in Jython

Using files
In addition to the Java platform's file-related APIs (packages java.io and, in Java
1.4, java.nio), Jython provides simple yet powerful access to files using the File
type and services in the os, os.path, and sys modules. (See Appendix F: The os
module on page 83Appendix
,
G: The os.path module on page 84Appendix
,
E: The sys
module on page 82 and the
Python Reference Manual for more details on the os and
os.path packages.)
We'll start with a look at some basic file-access operations. A File object is created
using the built-in open function, shown below, where path is the path to the file, mode
is the access mode string, and size is the suggested buffer size:

file = open(path {, mode {, size}})

The mode string has the following syntax: (r|w|a){+}{b}; the default mode is r.
Here is a listing of all the available access mode strings:
r: read
w: write
a: append to the end of the file
+: update
b: binary (vs. text)
The name of the file is accessed through the name attribute. The mode of the file is
accessed through the mode attribute.

File access methods

Files support the following methods:
Method

Comment(s)

close()

Flush and close an open file

flush()

Outputs any buffered data

read({size})

Reads up to size (or the whole file)

readline({size})

Read a line (including ending '\n') up to size

readlines()

Reads the file and returns a list of lines (including

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ending '\n')
seek(offset {, mode})

Seek to a position, mode: 0 - start of file, 1 current offset, 2 - end of file

tell()

Return the current offset

truncate({size})

Truncate (delete extra content) to current offset or

specified size

write(string)

Write the string to a file. To write lines, end the

string in '\n'

writelines(lines)

Write the list as a set of strings. To write lines,

end each string in '\n'

Simple file processing examples

We'll look at a couple of simple file processing examples, starting with the file copy
program below:

import sys
f = open(sys.argv[1], "rb")
bin = f.read()
f.close()
f = open(sys.argv[2], "wb")
f.write(bin)
f.close()

# open binary for reading

# open binary (truncated) for write

And here is a text file sort procedure:

import sys
f = open(sys.argv[1], "r")
# read the file by lines
lines = f.readlines()
f.close()
lines.sort()
# sort and print the lines
print "File %s sorted" % f.name
print lines

A word-counting program in Jython

As a more complete example of file processing, study the following word-counting
program:

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import sys
def clean (word):
""" Remove any punctuation and map to a common case. """
word = word.lower()
# remove any special characters
while word and word[-1] in ".,;!": word = word[:-1]
while word and word[0] in ".,;!": word = word[1:]
return word
words = {}

# set of unique words and counts

if len(sys.argv) != 2:
print "Usage: jython wcount.py <file>"
else:
file = open(sys.argv[1]) # access file for read
lines = file.readlines() # get the file
file.close()
# process each line
for line in lines:
# process each word in the line
for word in line.split():
word = clean(word)
words[word] = words.get(word, 0) + 1

# update the count

# report the results

keys = words.keys()
keys.sort()
for word in keys:
print "%-5i %s" % (words[word], word)

Output of words.txt
Given the following input file (words.txt)

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
How many times must I say it; Again! again! and again!
Singing in the rain! I'm singing in the rain! \
Just singing, just singing, in the rain!

the word-counting program (from A word-counting program in Jython on page 59 )

would return the following results (wrapped into two columns to save space):

3
1
1
1
1

again
aid
all
and
come

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1
1
1
1
1

many
men
must
now
of

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1
1
1
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
2
1

country
falls
for
good
how
i
i'm
in
is
it
just
mainly

1
1
4
1
4
1
7
1
1
1
2

ibm.com/developerWorks

on
plain
rain
say
singing
spain
the
their
time
times
to

The word-counting program in Java code

Let's take a look at the word-counting script re-implemented in the Java language.
Notice the extensive use of types in declarations and type-casts in the assignment
statements. As you can see, the Java code is significantly larger (approximately two
times) and arguably far more cryptic.

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.text.*;
public class WordCounter
{
protected static final String specials = ".,;!";
/** Remove any punctuation and map to a common case. */
protected static String clean(String word) {
word = word.toLowerCase();
// remove any special characters
while (word.length() > 0 &&
specials.indexOf(word.charAt(word.length() - 1)) >= 0) {
word = word.substring(0, word.length() - 1);
}
while (word.length() > 0 &&
specials.indexOf(word.charAt(0)) >= 0) {
word = word.substring(1);
}
return word;
}
protected static Map words = new HashMap();
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
if (args.length != 1) {
System.out.println("Usage: java WordCounter <file>");
}
else {
// access file for read

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FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(args[0]);

DataInputStream dis = new DataInputStream(fis);
List lines = new ArrayList();
// get the file
for (String line = dis.readLine();
line != null;
line = dis.readLine()) {
lines.add(line);
}
dis.close();
// process each line
for (int i = 0; i < lines.size(); i++) {
String line = (String)lines.get(i);
System.out.println("Processing: " + line);
String[] xwords = line.split("\\s+");
for (int w = 0; w < xwords.length; w++) {
String word = clean(xwords[w]);
if (word.length() > 0) {
Integer count = (Integer)words.get(word);
if (count == null) {
count = new Integer(0);
}
// update the count
words.put(word,
new Integer(count.intValue() + 1));
}
}
}
// report the results
String[] keys = (String[])words.keySet().
toArray(new String[words.size()]);
Arrays.sort(keys);
MessageFormat form = new MessageFormat(
"{0,number, #########0} {1}");
for (int i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
System.out.println(form.format(
new Object[] {words.get(keys[i]), keys[i]}));
}
}
}
}

Printing to files
The print statement can print to a file by use of the ">>" operator. By default it prints
to the console (actually the value of sys.stdout). For example, the following
commands are equivalent:

print "Hello World!"

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import sys
print >>sys.stdout, "Hello world!"

Jython allows alternate target files. For example, to print to the standard error stream
use:

print >>sys.stderr, "Hello world!"

To print to a file use:

f = open("myfile", "w")
for i in range(10):
print >>f, "Line", i
f.close()

And to add to the end of a file use:

f = open("myfile", "a")
print >>f, "Added line"
f.close()

Saving objects persistently

Sometimes you may want to save an object persistently (beyond the lifetime of the
program that creates it) or send it to another application. To do this you need to
serialize (or pickle) the object so it can be placed in a file or on a stream. You then
need to de-serialize (or un-pickle ) the object to use it again. Jython provides a
module, pickle, that makes this very easy. The pickle module contains the
following useful functions:
Function

Comment(s)

load(file)

Returns an object re-created from a previously

created image in a file.

loads(string)

Returns an object recreated from a previously

created image in a string.

dump(object, file {,
bin})

Stores an object image into a file. If bin is

omitted or false, use a text representation; else a
binary representation (which is typically smaller).

dumps(object{, bin})

Returns a string containing the image of the

object. If bin is omitted or false, use a text
representation; else a binary representation

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(which is typically smaller).

A pickling example
Here's an example of pickle at work. The following code sequence

import pickle
class Data:
def __init__ (self, x, y):
self.__x = x
self.__y = y
def __str__ (self):
return "Data(%s,%s)" % (self.__x, self.__y)
def __eq__ (self, other):
return self.__x == other.__x and self.__y == other.__y
data = Data(10, "hello")
file = open("data.pic", 'w')
pickle.dump(data, file)
file.close()
file = open("data.pic", 'r')
newdata = pickle.load(file)
file.close()
print
print
print
print

"data:", data
"newdata:", newdata
"data is newdata:", data is newdata
"data == newdata:", data == newdata

prints this:

data: Data(10,hello)
newdata: Data(10,hello)
data is newdata: 0 (false)
data == newdata: 1 (true)

The file created is in (semi-)readable plain text. For example, the above code created
the file data.pic:

(i__main__
Data
p0

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(dp1
S'_Data__y'
p2
S'hello'
p3
sS'_Data__x'
p4
I10
sb.

Note that Jython cannot pickle objects that are Java objects, reference Java objects, or
subclass Java classes. To do this you need to use the
java.io.ObjectOutputStream and java.io.ObjectInputStream classes.

Object shelves
As shown in the previous panel, Jython can store objects into a file. Using a file per
object can cause problems (that is, it can waste space and you will need to name each
file). Jython supports a file that can hold multiple objects, called a shelf. A shelf acts
much like a persistent dictionary. To create shelves, use the open function of module
shelve. For example, the following code:

import shelve, sys

def printshelf (shelf, stream=sys.stdout):
for k in shelf.keys():
print >>stream, k, '=', shelf[k]

# print the entries in a shelf

def clearshelf (shelf):

for k in shelf.keys():
del shelf[k]

# remove all keys in the shelf

# create shelf
shelf = shelve.open("test.shelf")
clearshelf(shelf)
shelf["x"] = [1,2,3,4]
shelf["y"] = {'a':1, 'b':2, 'c':3}
printshelf(shelf)
shelf.close()
print
# update shelf
shelf = shelve.open("test.shelf")
printshelf(shelf)
print
shelf["z"] = sys.argv[1]
printshelf(shelf)
shelf.close()
print
# verify shelf persistent

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shelf = shelve.open("test.shelf")
printshelf(shelf)
shelf.close()

produces this output (with argument "This is a test string"):

x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
y = {'b': 2, 'a': 1, 'c': 3}
x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
y = {'b': 2, 'a': 1, 'c': 3}
x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
z = This is a test string
y = {'b': 2, 'a': 1, 'c': 3}
x = [1, 2, 3, 4]
z = This is a test string
y = {'b': 2, 'a': 1, 'c': 3}

Note that the open function produces two files based on the file name passed to open:
<filename>.dir is a directory into the persistent data
<filename>.dat is the saved persistent object data

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Section 11. A simple Swing GUI

The Factorial Calculator
We'll close this second installment of the "Introduction to Jython" tutorial with a
complete program that encompasses many of the details we have so far discussed.
The Factorial Calculator is a GUI application written entirely in Jython. It calculates the
value of x! (x factorial) for any positive integer value. Because x! can be very large, this
example takes advantage of Jython's ability to process very large integers.
Calculations for large values of x (say, > 10000) can take several minutes, so the user
interface includes a progress bar and a Cancel button to interrupt a calculation.
In the panels that follow, you can see the two most essential components of the
Factorial Calculator: the class that supplies the factorial calculation engine, and the set
of classes that comprise the GUI. The complete, runnable code for the Factorial
Calculator is available for download in Resources on page 73 . Note that in order to
completely understand the GUI code you should have some experience with creating
Swing GUIs. Even without this prior knowledge, you should be able to discern many
elements of the code from our prior discussion throughout this tutorial.
To get started, let's see what our GUI application looks like. Here's a screenshot of the
GUI showing the result of calculating 100! (that is, 100 factorial).

The factorial engine: factor.py

Factorial is the class that supplies the factorial calculation engine. It consists of a
sequence of code with additional explanation lines (identified by -- ) added.

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-- import the needed modules

import sys
import exceptions
-- create the Factorial class, a general purpose factorial calculation engine
class Factorial:
"""A general purpose factorial calculation engine"""
-- define the constructor
def __init__ (self):
self.__listeners = []
self.__cancelled = 0
-- allow other classes to register event listeners;
--used to track calculation progress
-- A "listener" is a function that takes an integer % argument
def addListener (self, listener):
if listener not in self.__listeners:
self.__listeners.append(listener)
def addListeners (self, listeners):
for l in listeners:
self.addListener(l)
def removeListener (self, listener):
self.__listeners.remove(listener)
def removeListeners (self, listeners):
for l in listeners:
self.removeListener(l)
def fireListeners (self, value): # notify all listeners
for func in self.__listeners:
func(value)
-- allow others to cancel a long running calculation
def cancel (self):
self.__cancelled = 1
-- perform the factorial calculation;
-may take a long time (many minutes) for big numbers
def calculate (self, value):
if type(value) != type(0) or value < 0:
raise ValueError, \
"only positive integers supported: " + str(value)
self.__cancelled = 0
result = 1L
self.fireListeners(0)
# 0% done
# calculate factorial -- may take quite a while
if value > 1:
# need to do calculation
last = 0
# using iteration (vs. recursion) to increase performance
# and eliminate any stack overflow possibility
for x in xrange(1, value + 1):
if self.__cancelled: break # early abort requested
result = result * x
# calc next value
next = x * 100 / value

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if next != last:
# signal progress
self.fireListeners(next)
last = next
self.fireListeners(100) # 100% done
if self.__cancelled: result = -1
return result
# test case
if __name__ == "__main__":
print sys.argv[0], "running..."
fac = Factorial()
def doFac (value):
try:
print "For", value, "result =", fac.calculate(value)
except ValueError, e:
print "Exception -", e
doFac(-1)
doFac(0)
doFac(1)
doFac(10)
doFac(100)
doFac(1000)

The GUI: fgui.py

Here you can see the set of classes that supplies the factorial GUI. The set consists of
a sequence of code with additional explanation lines (identified by -- ) added.

-- import the needed modules

import sys
import string
from types import *
from
from
from
from

java import lang

java import awt
java.awt import event as awtevent
javax import swing

from factor import Factorial

-- PromptedValueLayout is a customized Java LayoutManager not discussed here
-but included with the resources
from com.ibm.articles import PromptedValueLayout as ValueLayout
-- support asynchronous processing
class LongRunningTask(lang.Thread):
def __init__ (self, runner, param=None):
self.__runner = runner
# function to run
self.__param = param
# function parameter (if any)
self.complete = 0

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self.running = 0
-- Java thread body
def run (self):
self.complete =
if self.__param
self.result
else:
self.result
self.complete =

0; self.running = 1
is not None:
= self.__runner(self.__param)
= self.__runner()
1; self.running = 0

-- start a long running activity

def doAsync (func, param):
LongRunningTask(func, param).start()
-- Swing GUI services must be called only on the AWT event thread,
class SwingNotifier(lang.Runnable):
def __init__ (self, processor, param=None):
self.__runner = processor # function to do GUI updates
self.__param = param
# function parameter (if any)
-- Java thread body
def run (self):
if self.__param is not None: self.__runner(self.__param)
else:
self.__runner()
def execute (self):
swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(self)
-- define and construct a GUI for factorial calculation
class FactorialGui(swing.JPanel):
"""Create and process the GUI."""
def __init__ (self, engine):
swing.JPanel.__init__(self)
self.__engine = engine
engine.addListener(self.update)
self.createGui()
def update (self, value):
# do on AWT thread
SwingNotifier(self.updateProgress, value).execute()
def updateProgress (self, value): # display progress updates
self.__progressBar.value = value
-- Calculate button press handler
def doCalc (self, event):
# request a factorial
self.__outputArea.text = ""
ivalue = self.__inputField.text # get value to calculate
value = -1
try: value = int(ivalue)
# convert it
except: pass
if value < 0:
# verify it
self.__statusLabel.text = \
"Cannot make into a positive integer value: " + ivalue
else:
self.__calcButton.enabled = 0
self.__cancelButton.enabled = 1

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msg = "Calculating factorial of %i..." % value

if value > 25000: msg += \
"; May take a very long time to complete!"
self.__statusLabel.text = msg # tell user we're busy
doAsync(self.calcFac, value)
# do the calculation
-- main calculation worker
def calcFac (self, value):
stime = lang.System.currentTimeMillis()
fac = self.__engine.calculate(value)
# time calculation
etime = lang.System.currentTimeMillis()
svalue = ""; order = 0
if fac >= 0:
# we have a result, not cancelled
svalue = str(fac); order = len(svalue) - 1
formatted = ""
while len(svalue) > 100: # wrap long numbers
formatted += svalue[0:100] + '\n'
svalue = svalue[100:]
formatted += svalue
svalue = formatted
ftime = lang.System.currentTimeMillis()
SwingNotifier(self.setResult, \
(svalue, order, ftime - stime, etime - stime)).execute()
-- display the result
def setResult (self, values):
svalue, order, ttime, ftime = values
self.__cancelButton.enabled = 0
if len(svalue) > 0:
self.__statusLabel.text = \
"Setting result - Order: 10**%i" % order
self.__outputArea.text = svalue
self.__statusLabel.text = \
"Total time: %ims, Calc time: %ims, Order: 10**%i" % \
(ttime, ftime, order)
else:
self.__statusLabel.text = "Cancelled"
self.__calcButton.enabled = 1
-- Cancel button press handler
def doCancel (self, event):
# request a cancel
self.__cancelButton.enabled = 0
self.__engine.cancel()
-- create (layout) the GUI
def createGui (self):
# build the GUI
self.layout = awt.BorderLayout()
progB = self.__progressBar = \
swing.JProgressBar(0, 100, stringPainted=1);
inf = self.__inputField = swing.JTextField(5)
inl = swing.JLabel("Calculate value of:", swing.JLabel.RIGHT)
inl.labelFor = inf
outf = self.__outputArea = swing.JTextArea()

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outl = swing.JLabel("Result:", swing.JLabel.RIGHT)

outl.labelFor = outf
calcb = self.__calcButton = \
swing.JButton("Calculate", actionPerformed=self.doCalc,
enabled=1, mnemonic=awtevent.KeyEvent.VK_C)
cancelb = self.__cancelButton = \
swing.JButton("Cancel", actionPerformed=self.doCancel,
enabled=0, mnemonic=awtevent.KeyEvent.VK_L)
vl = ValueLayout(5, 5)
inp = swing.JPanel(vl)
vl.setLayoutAlignmentX(inp, 0.2)
inp.add(inl); inp.add(inf, inl)
self.add(inp, awt.BorderLayout.NORTH)
vl = ValueLayout(5, 5)
outp = swing.JPanel(vl)
vl.setLayoutAlignmentX(outp, 0.2)
outp.add(outl); outp.add(swing.JScrollPane(outf), outl)
xoutp = swing.JPanel(awt.BorderLayout())
xoutp.add(progB, awt.BorderLayout.NORTH)
xoutp.add(outp, awt.BorderLayout.CENTER)
self.add(xoutp, awt.BorderLayout.CENTER)
sp = swing.JPanel(awt.BorderLayout())
bp = swing.JPanel()
bp.add(calcb)
bp.add(cancelb)
sp.add(bp, awt.BorderLayout.NORTH)
sl = self.__statusLabel = swing.JLabel(" ")
sp.add(sl, awt.BorderLayout.SOUTH)
self.add(sp, awt.BorderLayout.SOUTH)
-- main entry point; launches the GUI in a frame
if __name__ == "__main__":
print sys.argv[0], "running..."
frame = swing.JFrame("Factorial Calculator",
defaultCloseOperation=swing.JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE)
cp = frame.contentPane
cp.layout = awt.BorderLayout()
cp.add( FactorialGui(Factorial()) )
frame.size = 900, 500
frame.visible = 1

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Section 12. Wrap-up and resources

Summary
This completes the two-part "Introduction to Jython" tutorial. While much of the tutorial
functions as an overview, I hope I have provided you with enough advanced
discussion, code examples, and incentive to proceed into more hands-on learning,
specifically by developing your own programs in Jython.
In my opinion, Jython does for the Java platform what Visual Basic does for Microsoft's
.NET: It provides much easier access to a complex development and execution
environment. While easy to use, Jython improves upon the Java language by
incorporating features the Java language lacks (some of which are also available today
in .NET languages such as C#) without sacrificing any of the Java platform's capability
(unless you count compile-time-type checking or a small reduction in effective
performance).
We've discussed many of Jython's enhancements in this tutorial -- including for each
iteration, property methods accessible as attributes, collection literals, generic
collections that hold basic types (such as integers), generic functions, first-class
functions, overloadable operators, C-like printf formatting, functions as event
handlers, and dynamic code execution. Some of these features are so compelling that
they will be included in the next version of the Java platform (that is, 1.5). Of course,
with Jython you don't have to wait -- you can begin using them today!

Resources
Download the jython2-source.zip for this tutorial.
Visit the Jython home page to download Jython.
Take the first part of this tutorial "Introduction to Jython, Part 1: Java programming
made easier" (developerWorks, April 2004).
Jython modules and packages enable reuse of the extensive standard Java libraries.
Learn more about the Java libraries (and download the current version of the JDK)
on the Sun Microsystems Java technology homepage.
You'll find an entire collection of Python docs and tutorials (including the Python
Library Reference) and more information about regular expressions on the Python

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home page.
You can also learn more about regular expressions from the tutorial "Using regular
expressions" (developerWorks, September 2000).
Greg Travis's "Getting started with NIO" (developerWorks, July 2003) is a good,
hands-on introduction to the Java platform's new I/O.
In "Charming Jython" (developerWorks, May 2003) regular developerWorks
contributor Uche Ogbuji offers a short introduction to Jython.
Try your hand at using Jython to build a read-eval-print-loop, with Eric Allen's "Repls
provide interactive evaluation" (developerWorks, March 2002).
Charming Python is regular developerWorks column devoted to programming with
Python.
Jeffrey Friedl's Mastering Regular Expressions, Second Edition (O'Reilly, July 2002)
is a comprehensive introduction to regular expressions.
For a solid introduction to Jython, see Samuele Pedroni and Noel Rappin's Jython
Essentials (O'Reilly, March 2002).
Jython for Java Programmers focuses on application development, deployment, and
optimization with Jython (Robert W. Bill, New Riders, December 2001).
Python Programming with the Java Class Libraries is a good introduction to building
Web and enterprise applications with Jython (Richard Hightower, Addison Wesley,
2003).
You'll find articles about every aspect of Java programming in the developerWorks
Java technology zone.
Visit the Developer Bookstore for a comprehensive listing of technical books,
including hundreds of Java-related titles .
Also see the Java technology zone tutorials page for a complete listing of free
Java-focused tutorials from developerWorks.

Feedback
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Please send us your feedback on this tutorial!

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Section 13. Appendices

Appendix A: Character codes for array types
The table below lists the character codes for Jython array types (see Java arrays from
Jython on page 32 ).
Character type code

Corresponding Java type

'z'

Boolean

'c'

char

'b'

byte

'h'

short

'i'

int

'l'

long

'f'

float

'd'

double

Note: The above table is from www.jython.org.

Appendix B: Common overloaded operators and

methods
The following are the operators that are commonly (additional operators can be)
overloaded:
Operator

Function to override

Comment(s)

x+y

__add__(self, other)

Implements + operator

x += y

__radd__ (self, other)

+x

__iadd__(self, other)
__pos__ self)

x-y

__sub__(self, other)

x -= y

__rsub__(self, other)

-x

__isub__(self, other)

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Implements - operator

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__neg__(self)
x*y

__mul__(self, other)

x *= y

__rmul__(self, other)

Implements * operator

__imul__(self, other)
x/y

__div__(self, other)

x /= y

__rdiv__(self, other)

Implements / operator

__idiv__(self, other)
x%y

__mod__(self, other)

x %= y

__rmod__(self, other)

Implements % operator

__imod__(self, other)
x&y

__and__(self, other)

x &= y

__rand__(self, other)

Implements & operator

__iand__(self, other)
x|y

__or__(self, other)

x |= y

__ror__(self, other)

Implements | operator

__ior__(self, other)
x^y

__xor__(self, other)

x ^= y

__rxor__(self, other)

Implements ^ operator

__ixor__(self, other)
~x

__invert__(self)

Implements ~ operator

x << y

__lshift__(self, other)

Implements << operator

x <<= y

__rlshift__(self, other)
__ilshift__(self, other)

x >> y

__rshift__(self, other)

x >>= y

__ rrshift__(self, other)

Implements >> operator

__ irshift__(self, other)
x ** y

__pow__(self, other)

x **= y

__rpow__(self, other)

Implements ** operator

__ipow__(self, other)
divmod(x,y)

__divmod__(self, other)

Implements divmod()

__rdivmod__(self, other)
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x<y

__lt__(self, other)

Implements < operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__ge__.

x <= y

__le__(self, other)

Implements <= operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__gt__.

x>y

__gt__(self, other)

Implements > operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__le__.

x >= y

__ge__(self, other)

Implements >= operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__lt__.

x == y

__eq__(self, other)

Implements == operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__ne__.

x != y

__ne__(self, other)

Implements != operator. This should

return the opposite value returned by
__eq__.

cmp(x,y)

__cmp__(self, other)

Implements cmp(); also used for

relational tests if above specific
overrides are not defined. This should
return a < 0, 0 or > 0 value (say -1, 0 or
1).

__nonzero__(self)

Implements logical tests. This should

return 0 or 1.

hash(x)

__hash__(self)

Implements hash(). Returns an

integer value. Instances that are equal
(that is, __eq__ returns true) should
return the same __hash__ value (that
is, (x == y) and (hash(x) ==
hash(y)) should be true. Similar to
java.lang.Object.hashCode().

abs(x)

__abs__(self)

Implements abs()

int(x)

__int__(self)

Implements int()

long(x)

__long__(self)

Implements long()

float(x)

__float__(self)

Implements float()

complex(x)

__complex__(self)

Implements complex()

oct(x)

__oct__(self)

Implements oct()

hex(x)

__hex__(self)

Implements hex()

coerce(x,y)

__coerce__(self, other)

Implements coerce()

x <> y

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y = x.name

__getattr__ (self, name)

Implements attribute lookup

x.name = y

__setattr__ (self, name)

Implements attribute creation/update

del x.name

__delattr__ (self, name)

Implements attribute removal

y = c[i]

__getitem_ (self, i)

Implements item lookup

c[i] = y

__setitem__ (self, i)

Implements item creation/update

del c[i]

__delitem__ (self, i)

Implements item removal

x(arg, ...)

__call__ (self, arg, ...)

Implements the call operator

len(c)

__len__ (self)

Implements len()

x in c

__contains__ (self, other)

Implements in operator

class()

__init__ (self, ...)

Instance constructor; called when the

class is created

del x

__del__ (self)

Instance destructor; called just before

being deallocated

repr(x)

__repr__(self)

Implements repr() on this class

__str__(self)

Implements str() on this class;

Jython uses __repr__ if __str__ is not
defined. str() is used like
x.toString() in Java

x not in c

-- or -`x`
str(x)

Note: For the binary operators, the __xxx__ form is used when the left (or both)
argument implements the function; the __rxxx__ form is used only if the right argument
implements the function and the left argument does not; the __ixxx__ form is used to
implement the augmented assignment (x ?= y) operation. See the Python Reference
Manual for more details and overload-able functions.

Appendix C: Jython debugger commands

The debugger provides the following functions/features:
Command

Arguments

Function

h, help

-- none --

List the available commands

w, where

-- none --

Shows the current stack trace

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d, down

-- none --

Move down one stack frame

u, up

-- none --

Move up one stack frame

b, break

line# | function,
condition_expr

Set a breakpoint at a line number or

function with an optional expression to
evaluate - stop only if true

tbreak

line# | function,
condition_expr

Set a breakpoint at a line number or

function with an optional expression to
evaluate - stop only if true; the
breakpoint is automatically cleared
when hit

cl, clear

bpid...

Clears all or listed breakpoints

enable

bpid...

Enables breakpoints

disable

bpid...

Disabled breakpoints

ignore

bpid, count

Sets the breakpoint ignore

(auto-resume) count

condition

bpid, condition_expr

Sets the breakpoint condition

expression

s, step

-- none --

Steps over the next line, possibly into a

function

n, next

-- none --

Resume until the next line is reached

r, return

-- none --

Resume until the current function

returns

c, cont,
continue

-- none --

Resume execution

j, jump

line#

Set a new current line

l, list

line#1, line#1

Lists source from line#1 to line#2, if

omitted, then list the lines around the
current line

a, args

-- none --

Show the arguments of the current

function

p, pp

expr

Evaluate the expression and print its

result; pp formats the result

print

expr

Do the print statement, that is, - !print

expr

alias

name, expr

Create a named expression to simplify

printing of repeated values

unalias

name

Delete an alias

q, quit

-- none --

End the debugging session

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statement

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Execute the Jython statement

Note: entering a blank line repeats the prior command.

Appendix D: Jython to/from Java type mapping

Jython uses these rules to map parameter types:
Java Parameter Types

Allowed Python Types

char

String (must have length 1)

Boolean

Integer (true = nonzero)

byte, short, int, long

Integer

float, double

Float

java.lang.String, byte[], char[] String

java.lang.Class

Class or JavaClass

Foobar[]

Array (must contain objects of class or

subclass of Foobar)

java.lang.Object

String->java.lang.String, all others

unchanged

org.python.core.PyObject

All unchanged

Foobar

Instance --> Foobar (if Instance is

subclass of Foobar); JavaInstance -->
Foobar (if JavaInstance is instance of
Foobar or subclass)

Jython uses these rules to map return value types:

Java Return Type

Returned Python Type

char

String (of length 1)

Boolean

Integer (true = 1, false = 0)

byte, short, int, long

Integer

float, double

Float

java.lang.String

String

java.lang.Class

JavaClass which represents given Java

class

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Array (containing objects of class or

subclass of Foobar)

org.python.core.PyObject (or Unchanged

subclass)
Foobar

JavaInstance which represents the

Java Class Foobar

Note: the above two tables are from the www.jython.org site.

Appendix E: The sys module

The sys module has some important variables:
Variable

Comment(s)

argv

The arguments supplied to the main module.

argv[0] is the program name, argv[1] is the first
argument and so on

maxint

Largest/smallest integer value

minint
platform

The version of Java Jython is running on

path

The module search path

stdin

Standard input, output and error streams

stdout
stderr
modules

List of currently loaded modules

version

Jython version and details

version_info
The sys module has some important functions:
Function

Comment(s)

exit(int)

Exits the program

exc_info()

Get information on the most recent exception

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See the Python Library Reference for more information.

Appendix F: The os module

The os module has some important variables:
Variable

Comment(s)

name

Type of host

curdir

String to represent the current directory

pardir

String to represent the parent directory

sep

String to separate directories in a path

pathsep

String to separate paths in a path set string

linesep

String to separate text lines

environ

The current environment string

The sys module has some important functions:

Function

Comment(s)

getcwd()

Get the current directory

mkdir(path)

Create/delete a directory

makedirs(path)
rmdir(path)
remove(path)

Delete a file

-- or -unlink(path)
listdir(path)

List the files in a path

rename(path, new)

Renames a file/directory to new

system(command)

Run a shell command

See the Python Library Reference for more information.

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Appendix G: The os.path module

The os.path module has some important functions:
Function

Comment(s)

exists(path)

True is path exists

abspath(path)

Returns the absolute form of the path

normpath(path)

Returns the normalized form of the path

normcase(path)

Returns the path in the normal case

basename(path)

Returns the file part of path

dirname(path)

Returns the directory part of path

commonprefix(list)

Returns the longest common prefix of the paths in

the list

gethome()

Gets the home directory

getsize(path)

Gets the size of the path file

isabs(path)

Tests to see if path is absolute

isfile(path)

Tests to see if path is a file

isdir(path)

Tests to see if path is a dir

samepath(path1, path2)

True if path1 and path2 represent the same file

join(list)

Joins the path elements in the list

split(path)

Returns (path, last_element)

splitdrive(path)

Returns (drive, rest_of_path)

splitext(path)

Returns (root, extension)

See the Python Library Reference for more information.

Appendix H: Regular expression control characters

The most useful Regular Expression special characters are:
Special Notation

Comment(s)

Any character except those

Matches that character

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below
.

Matches any character

Matches the start of the string

Matches the end of the string

Matches longest 0 or 1 of the proceeding

??

Matches shortest 0 or 1 of the proceeding

Matches longest 1 or more of the proceeding

+?

Matches shortest 1 or more of the proceeding

Matches longest 0 or more of the proceeding

*?

Matches shortest 0 or more of the proceeding

{m,n}

Matches longest m to n of the proceeding

{m,n}?

Matches shortest m to n of the proceeding

[...]

Defines the set of enclosed characters

[^...]

Defines the set of non-enclosed characters

...|...

Matches a choice (or)

(...)

Matches the sequence (or group) ...; groups are

ordered from left to right with origin 1

(?...)

Matches a sequence but does not define a group

(?P<name>...)
(?P=name)

Matches a sequence (or group) ... giving it a

name
Matches the sequence defined with the name

(?=...)

Matches ... but does not consume the test

(?!...)

Matches not ... but does not consume the test

\c

Special characters:
\c literal escapes: .?*+&^$|()[]
\c function escapes: see below

See the Python Library Reference for more information.

Function escapes:
Function Escapes

Comment(s)

\A

Matches at start of line

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\Z

Matches at end of line

\B

Matches not at beginning or end of a word

\b

Matches at beginning or end of a word

\D

Matches not any decimal digit (0..9)

\d

Matches any decimal digit (0..9)

\S

Matches not any white space

\s

Matches any white space

\W

Matches not any alpha-numeric characters

\w

Matches any alpha-numeric characters

\#

Matches group #

Several options exist to modify how regular expression are processed. Options are bit
flags and may be combined by OR-ing (|) them together. Some of the more useful
options are:
Option

Comment(s)

IGNORECASE

Match ignoring case

-- or -I
MULTILINE
-- or --

Causes '^' and '$' to match internal line

boundaries (vs. just the start and end of the
string)

M
DOTALL

Causes '.' to match a newline

-- or -S

Appendix I: Generated factor.java

The following is the code generated by jythonc compiler for the factor.py file of The
factorial engine: factor.py on page 67 .

import org.python.core.*;

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public class factor extends java.lang.Object {

static String[] jpy$mainProperties =
new String[] {"python.modules.builtin",
"exceptions:org.python.core.exceptions"};
static String[] jpy$proxyProperties =
new String[] {"python.modules.builtin",
"exceptions:org.python.core.exceptions",
"python.options.showJavaExceptions",
"true"};
static String[] jpy$packages = new String[] {};
public static class _PyInner extends PyFunctionTable
implements PyRunnable {
private static PyObject i$0;
private static PyObject i$1;
private static PyObject s$2;
private static PyObject l$3;
private static PyObject i$4;
private static PyObject s$5;
private static PyObject s$6;
private static PyObject s$7;
private static PyObject s$8;
private static PyObject s$9;
private static PyObject i$10;
private static PyObject i$11;
private static PyObject s$12;
private static PyFunctionTable funcTable;
private static PyCode c$0___init__;
private static PyCode c$1_addListener;
private static PyCode c$2_addListeners;
private static PyCode c$3_removeListener;
private static PyCode c$4_removeListeners;
private static PyCode c$5_fireListeners;
private static PyCode c$6_cancel;
private static PyCode c$7_calculate;
private static PyCode c$8_Factorial;
private static PyCode c$9_doFac;
private static PyCode c$10_main;
private static void initConstants() {
i$0 = Py.newInteger(0);
i$1 = Py.newInteger(1);
s$2 = Py.newString("only positive integers supported: ");
l$3 = Py.newLong("1");
i$4 = Py.newInteger(100);
s$5 = Py.newString("__main__");
s$6 = Py.newString("running...");
s$7 = Py.newString("For");
s$8 = Py.newString("result =");
s$9 = Py.newString("Exception -");
i$10 = Py.newInteger(10);
i$11 = Py.newInteger(1000);
s$12 = Py.newString("C:\\Articles\\factor.py");
funcTable = new _PyInner();
c$0___init__ = Py.newCode(1, new String[] {"self"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"__init__", false, false,

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funcTable, 0,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$1_addListener = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "listener", "ll"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"addListener", false,
false, funcTable, 1,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$2_addListeners = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "listeners", "l"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"addListeners", false,
false, funcTable, 2,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$3_removeListener = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "listener", "ll"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"removeListener", false,
false, funcTable, 3,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$4_removeListeners = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "listeners", "l"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"removeListeners", false,
false, funcTable, 4,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$5_fireListeners = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "value", "func"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"fireListeners", false,
false, funcTable, 5,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$6_cancel = Py.newCode(1,
new String[]
{"self"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"cancel", false,
false, funcTable, 6,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$7_calculate = Py.newCode(2,
new String[]
{"self", "value", "next",
"x", "last", "result"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"calculate", false,
false, funcTable, 7,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$8_Factorial = Py.newCode(0,
new String[]
{},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"Factorial", false,
false, funcTable, 8,

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null, null, 0, 0);

c$9_doFac = Py.newCode(1,
new String[]
{"value", "e"},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"doFac", false,
false, funcTable, 9,
null, null, 0, 1);
c$10_main = Py.newCode(0,
new String[] {},
"C:\\Articles\\factor.py",
"main", false,
false, funcTable, 10,
null, null, 0, 0);
}
public PyCode getMain() {
if (c$10_main == null) _PyInner.initConstants();
return c$10_main;
}
public PyObject call_function(int index, PyFrame frame) {
switch (index){
case 0:
return _PyInner.__init__$1(frame);
case 1:
return _PyInner.addListener$2(frame);
case 2:
return _PyInner.addListeners$3(frame);
case 3:
return _PyInner.removeListener$4(frame);
case 4:
return _PyInner.removeListeners$5(frame);
case 5:
return _PyInner.fireListeners$6(frame);
case 6:
return _PyInner.cancel$7(frame);
case 7:
return _PyInner.calculate$8(frame);
case 8:
return _PyInner.Factorial$9(frame);
case 9:
return _PyInner.doFac$10(frame);
case 10:
return _PyInner.main$11(frame);
default:
return null;
}
}
private static PyObject __init__$1(PyFrame frame) {
frame.getlocal(0).__setattr__("_Factorial__listeners",
new PyList(new PyObject[] {}));
frame.getlocal(0).__setattr__("_Factorial__cancelled", i$0);
return Py.None;
}

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private static PyObject addListener$2(PyFrame frame) {

frame.setlocal(2,
frame.getlocal(0).__getattr__("_Factorial__listeners"));
if (frame.getlocal(1)._notin(
frame.getlocal(2) ).__nonzero__()) {
frame.getlocal(2).invoke("append", frame.getlocal(1));
}
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject addListeners$3(PyFrame frame) {
// Temporary Variables
int t$0$int;
PyObject t$0$PyObject, t$1$PyObject;
// Code
t$0$int = 0;
t$1$PyObject = frame.getlocal(1);
while ((t$0$PyObject =
t$1$PyObject.__finditem__(t$0$int++)) != null) {
frame.setlocal(2, t$0$PyObject);
frame.getlocal(0).invoke("addListener",
frame.getlocal(2));
}
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject removeListener$4(PyFrame frame) {
frame.setlocal(2,
frame.getlocal(0).__getattr__("_Factorial__listeners"));
frame.getlocal(2).invoke("remove", frame.getlocal(1));
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject removeListeners$5(PyFrame frame) {
// Temporary Variables
int t$0$int;
PyObject t$0$PyObject, t$1$PyObject;
// Code
t$0$int = 0;
t$1$PyObject = frame.getlocal(1);
while ((t$0$PyObject =
t$1$PyObject.__finditem__(t$0$int++)) != null) {
frame.setlocal(2, t$0$PyObject);
frame.getlocal(0).invoke("removeListener",
frame.getlocal(2));
}
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject fireListeners$6(PyFrame frame) {
// Temporary Variables
int t$0$int;
PyObject t$0$PyObject, t$1$PyObject;
// Code
t$0$int = 0;

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t$1$PyObject =
frame.getlocal(0).__getattr__("_Factorial__listeners");
while ((t$0$PyObject =
t$1$PyObject.__finditem__(t$0$int++)) != null) {
frame.setlocal(2, t$0$PyObject);
frame.getlocal(2).__call__(frame.getlocal(1));
}
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject cancel$7(PyFrame frame) {
frame.getlocal(0).__setattr__("_Factorial__cancelled", i$1);
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject calculate$8(PyFrame frame) {
// Temporary Variables
int t$0$int;
PyObject t$0$PyObject, t$1$PyObject;
// Code
if (((t$0$PyObject = frame.getglobal("type").
__call__(frame.getlocal(1)).
_ne(frame.getglobal("types").
__getattr__("IntType"))).__nonzero__()
? t$0$PyObject
: frame.getlocal(1)._lt(i$0)).__nonzero__()) {
throw Py.makeException(
frame.getglobal("ValueError"),
s$2._add(frame.getglobal("str").
__call__(frame.getlocal(1))));
}
frame.getlocal(0).__setattr__("_Factorial__cancelled", i$0);
frame.setlocal(5, l$3);
frame.getlocal(0).invoke("fireListeners", i$0);
if (frame.getlocal(1)._le(i$1).__nonzero__()) {
frame.setlocal(5, l$3);
}
else {
frame.setlocal(4, i$0);
t$0$int = 0;
t$1$PyObject = frame.getglobal("range").
__call__(i$1,frame.getlocal(1)._add(i$1));
while ((t$0$PyObject = t$1$PyObject.
__finditem__(t$0$int++)) != null) {
frame.setlocal(3, t$0$PyObject);
if (frame.getlocal(0).
__getattr__("_Factorial__cancelled").__nonzero__()) {
break;
}
frame.setlocal(5,
frame.getlocal(5)._mul(frame.getlocal(3)));
frame.setlocal(2,
frame.getlocal(3)._mul(i$4)._div(frame.getlocal(1)));
if
(frame.getlocal(2)._ne(frame.getlocal(4)).__nonzero__()) {
frame.getlocal(0).invoke("fireListeners",
frame.getlocal(2));

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frame.setlocal(4, frame.getlocal(2));
}
}
}
frame.getlocal(0).invoke("fireListeners", i$4);
if (frame.getlocal(0).
__getattr__("_Factorial__cancelled").__nonzero__()) {
frame.setlocal(5, i$1.__neg__());
}
return frame.getlocal(5);
}
private static PyObject Factorial$9(PyFrame frame) {
frame.setlocal("__init__",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$0___init__));
frame.setlocal("addListener",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$1_addListener));
frame.setlocal("addListeners",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$2_addListeners));
frame.setlocal("removeListener",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$3_removeListener));
frame.setlocal("removeListeners",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$4_removeListeners));
frame.setlocal("fireListeners",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$5_fireListeners));
frame.setlocal("cancel",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$6_cancel));
frame.setlocal("calculate",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$7_calculate));
return frame.getf_locals();
}
private static PyObject doFac$10(PyFrame frame) {
// Temporary Variables
PyException t$0$PyException;
// Code
try {
Py.printComma(s$7);
Py.printComma(frame.getlocal(0));
Py.printComma(s$8);
Py.println(frame.getglobal("fac").
invoke("calculate", frame.getlocal(0)));
}
catch (Throwable x$0) {
t$0$PyException = Py.setException(x$0, frame);
if (Py.matchException(t$0$PyException,
frame.getglobal("ValueError"))) {
frame.setlocal(1, t$0$PyException.value);
Py.printComma(s$9);

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Py.println(frame.getlocal(1));
}
else throw t$0$PyException;
}
return Py.None;
}
private static PyObject main$11(PyFrame frame) {
frame.setglobal("__file__", s$12);
frame.setlocal("sys",
org.python.core.imp.importOne("sys", frame));
frame.setlocal("types",
org.python.core.imp.importOne("types", frame));
frame.setlocal("exceptions",
org.python.core.imp.importOne("exceptions", frame));
frame.setlocal("Factorial",
Py.makeClass("Factorial",
new PyObject[] {},
c$8_Factorial, null));
if (frame.getname("__name__")._eq(s$5).__nonzero__()) {
Py.printComma(frame.getname("sys").
__getattr__("argv").__getitem__(i$0));
Py.println(s$6);
frame.setlocal("fac",
frame.getname("Factorial").__call__());
frame.setlocal("doFac",
new PyFunction(frame.f_globals,
new PyObject[] {}, c$9_doFac));
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$1.__neg__());
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$0);
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$1);
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$10);
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$4);
frame.getname("doFac").__call__(i$11);
}
return Py.None;
}
}
public static void moduleDictInit(PyObject dict) {
dict.__setitem__("__name__", new PyString("factor"));
Py.runCode(new _PyInner().getMain(), dict, dict);
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws java.lang.Exception {
String[] newargs = new String[args.length+1];
newargs[0] = "factor";
System.arraycopy(args, 0, newargs, 1, args.length);
Py.runMain(factor._PyInner.class, newargs,
factor.jpy$packages,
factor.jpy$mainProperties, null,
new String[] {"factor"});
}
}

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Note: The above code has been reformatted for line length.

Appendix J: Formatting strings and values

Note that a simplified form of Appendix J originally appeared as multiple panels in Part
1 of this tutorial.
Jython strings support a special formating operation similar to C's printf, but using
the modulo ("%") operator. The right-hand set of items is substituted into the left-hand
string at the matching %x locations in the string. The set value is usually a single value,
a tuple of values, or a dictionary of values.
The general format of the format specification is

%{(key)}{flag}...{width}{.precision}x

Here's a guide to the format items:

key: Optional key to lookup in a supplied dictionary
flag: Optional flags (reasonable combinations supported)
#: Display any special format prefix (for example, "0" for octal, "0x" for hex)
+: Display a "+" on positive numbers
blank: Display a leading space on positive numbers
-: Left (vs. right) justify the value in the width
0: Left pad with "0" (vs. spaces)
width: Minimum width of the field (will be longer for large values)
precision: Number of digits after any decimal point
x: Format code as described below

The format operator supports the following format characters:

Character(s)

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Result Format

Comment(s)

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%s, %r

String

%s does str(x), %r does repr(x)

%i, %d

Integer Decimal

Basically the same format

%o, %u, %x, %X

Unsigned Value

In octal, unsigned decimal,

hexadecimal

%f, %F

Floating Decimal

Shows fraction after decimal point

%e, %E, %g, %G

Exponential

%g is %f unless the value is small; else

%e

%c

Character

Must be a single character or integer

%%

Character

The % character

Note: more details on the structure and options of the format item can be found in the
Python Library Reference (Resources on page 73 ). Use of case in format characters
(for example, X vs x causes the symbol to show in matching case.
For example

print "%s is %i %s %s than %s!" % ("John", 5, "years", "older", "Mark")

print "Name: %(last)s, %(first)s" % \
{'first':"Barry", 'last':"Feigenbaum", 'age':18}

prints

John is 5 years older than Mark!

Name: Feigenbaum, Barry

Appendix K: Built-in functions

Note that Appendix K appeared in Part 1 of this tutorial.
Jython provides very useful built-in functions that can be used without any imports. The
most commonly used ones are summarized below:
Syntax

Use/Comment(s)

Example(s)

abs(x)

Absolute value

abs(-1) --> 1

apply(func, pargs
{, kargs})

Execute the function with the

supplied positional arguments
and optional keyword
arguments

apply(lambda x, y: x * y, (10, 20)) -->

200

-- or --

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func(*pargs {,
**kargs})
callable(x)

Tests to see if the object is

callable(MyClass) --> 1
callable (i.e, is a function, class
or implements __call__)

chr(x)

Converts the integer (0 65535) to a 1-character string

chr(9) --> "\t"

cmp(x, y)

Compares x to y: returns:
negative if x < y; 0 if x == y;
positive if x > y

cmp("Hello", "Goodbye") --> > 0

coerce(x, y)

Returns the tuple of x and y

coerced to a common type

coerce(-1, 10.2) --> (-1.0, 10.2)

compile(text,
name, kind)

Compile the text string from the

x = 2
source name. Kind is: "exec",
c = compile("x * 2",
"eval" or "single"
"<string>", "eval")
eval(c) --> 4

complex(r, i)

Create a complex number

complex(1, 2) --> 1.0+2.0j

complex("1.0-0.1j") --> 1.0-0.1j

dir({namespace})

Returns a list of the keys in a

namespace (local if omitted)

dir() --> [n1, ..., nN]

vars({namespace}) Returns the namespace (local

if omitted); do not change it

vars() --> {n1:v1, ..., nN:vN}

divmod(x, y)

divmod(100, 33) --> (3, 1)

Returns the tuple (x /y, x % y)

eval(expr {, globals Evaluate the expression in the

{, locals}})
supplied namespaces

myvalues = {'x':1, 'y':2}

eval("x + y", myvalues) --> 3

execfile(name
{,globals {,
locals}})

Read and execute the named

file in the supplied
namespaces

execfile("myfile.py")

filter(func, list)

Creates a list of items for which filter(lambda x: x > 0, [-1, 0, 1, -5, 10])
func returns true
--> [1, 10]

float(x)

Converts x to a float

float(10) --> 10.0

float("10.3") --> 10.3

getattr(object,
name {, default})

Gets the value of the object's

attribute; if not defined return
default (or an exception if no
default)

getattr(myObj, "size", 0) --> 0

setattr(object,

Creates/sets the value of the

setattr(myObj, "size", 10)

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name, value)

object's attribute

hasattr(object,
name)

Test to see if the object has an hasattr(myObj, "size") --> 0

attribute

globals()

Returns the current global

namespace dictionary

{n1:v1, ..., nN:vN}

locals()

Returns the current local

namespace dictionary

{n1:v1, ..., nN:vN}

hash(object)

Returns the object's hash

hash(x) --> 10030939
value. Similar to
java.lang.Object.hashCode()

hex(x)

Returns a hex string of x

id(object)

Returns a unique stable integer id(myObj) --> 39839888

id for the object

input(prompt)

Prompts and evaluates the

input("Enter expression:")
supplied input expression;
with "1 + 2" --> 3
equivalent to
eval(raw_input(prompt))

hex(-2) --> "FFFFFFFE"

raw_input(prompt) Prompts for and inputs a string raw_input("Enter value:")

with "1 + 2" --> "1 + 2"
int(x{, radix})

Converts to an integer; radix:

0, 2..36; 0 implies guess

int(10.2) --> 10
int("10") --> 10
int("1ff", 16) --> 511

isinstance(object,
class)

Tests to see if object is an

isinstance(myObj, MyObject) --> 0
instance of class or a subclass
of class; class may be a tuple isinstance(x, (Class1, Class2)) --> 1
of classes to test multiple types

issubclass(xclass,
clsss)

Tests to see if xclass is a

issubclass(MyObject, (Class1, Class2))
sub-(or same) class of class;
--> 0
class may be a tuple of classes
to test multiple types

len(x)

Returns the length (number of

items) in the sequence or map

len("Hello") --> 5

list(seq)

Converts the sequence into a

list

list((1, 2, 3)) --> [1,2,3]

tuple(seq)

Converts the sequence into a

tuple

tuple((1, 2, 3)) --> (1,2,3)

tuple("Hello")--> ('H','e','l','l','o')

long(x {, radix})

Converts to a long integer;

radix: 0, 2..36; 0 implies guess

long(10) --> 10L

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list("Hello") --> ['H','e','l','l','o']

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long("10000000000") -->
10000000000L
map(func, list, ...)

Creates a new list from the

map(lambda x,y: x+y, [1,2],[3,4]) -->
results of applying func to each [4,6]
element of each list
map(None, [1,2],[3,4]) --> [[1,3],[2,4]]

max(x)

Returns the maximum value

max(1,2,3) --> 3
max([1,2,3]) --> 3

min(x)

Returns the minimum value

min(1,2,3) --> 1
min([1,2,3]) --> 1

oct(x)

Converts to an octal string

oct(10) --> "012

oct(-1) --> "037777777777"

open(name, mode Returns an open file. Mode

{, bufsize})
is:(r|w|a){+}{b}

open("useful.dat", "wb", 2048)

ord(x)

Returns the integer value of

the character

ord('\t') --> 9

pow(x,y)

Computes x ** y

pow(2,3) --> 8

pow(x,y,z)

Computes x ** y % z

range({start,} stop
{, inc})

Returns a sequence ranging

from start to stop in steps of
inc; start defaults to 0; inc
xrange({start,} stop defaults to 1. Use xrange for
{, inc})
large sequences (say more
than 20 items)

range(10) --> [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]

reduce(func, list {,
init})

reduce(lambda x,y:x+y, [1,2,3,4],5) -->

15

Applies func to each pair of

items in turn accumulating a
result

range(9,-1,-1) --> [9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0]

reduce(lambda x,y:x&y, [1,0,1]) --> 0

reduce(None, [], 1) --> 1

repr(object)
-- or --

Convert to a string from which

it can be recreated, if possible

`object`
round(x {, digits})

repr(10 * 2) --> "'20'"

repr('xxx') --> "'xxx'"
x = 10; `x` --> "10'"

Rounds the number

round(10.009, 2) --> 10.01

round(1.5) --> 2

str(object)

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Converts to human-friendly
string

str(10 * 2) --> "20"

str('xxx') --> 'xxx'

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type(object)

Returns the type (not the same x = "1"; type(x) is type('') --> 1
as class) of the object. To get
the class use
object.__class__. Module
types has symbolic names for
all Jython types

zip(seq, ...)

Zips sequences together;

results is only as long as the
shortest input sequence

zip([1,2,3],"abc") --> [(1,'a'),(2,'b'),(3,'c')]

Appendix L: Jython types summary

Note that Appendix L appeared in Part 1 of this tutorial.
Jython supports many object types. The module types defines symbols for these types.
The function type gets the type of any object. The type value can be tested (see on
page ). The table below summarizes the most often used types.
Type symbol

Jython runtime type

Comment(s)

ArrayType

PyArray

Any array object

BuiltinFunctionType

PyReflectedFunction

Any built-in function object

BuiltinMethodType

PyMethod

Any built-in method object

ClassType

PyClass

Any Jython class object

ComplexType

PyComplex

Any complex object

DictType

PyDictionary

Any dictionary object

FileType

PyFile

Any file object

FloatType

PyFloat

Any float object

FunctionType

PyFunction

Any function object

InstanceType

PyInstance

Any class instance object

-- none --

PyJavaInstance

Any Java class instance

object

IntType

PyInteger

Any integer object

LambdaType

PyFunction

Any lambda function

-- or -DictionaryType

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expression object
ListType

PyList

Any list object

LongType

PyLong

Any long object

MethodType

PyMethod

Any non-built-in method

object

ModuleType

PyModule

Any module object

NoneType

PyNone

Any None (only one) object

StringType

PyString

Any ASCII string object

TracebackType

PyTraceback

Any exception traceback

object

TupleType

PyTuple

Any tuple object

TypeType

PyJavaClass

Any type object

UnboundMethodType

PyMethod

Any method (without a

bound instancee) object

UnicodeType

PyString

Any Unicode string object

XRangeType

PyXRange

Any extended range object

Note: several types map to the same Java runtime type. For more information on types
see the Python Library Reference (Resources on page 73 ).

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