What do I need to program in ironpython? and what's your opinion of ironpython

Question

I found on the internet a couple of days ago ironpython. And I would like to test it.

What do I need to install on my computer to use it? Does the user need to install something extra? What IDE is the best for ironpython? I also use linux. Can Mono support it?

Is it worth testing (using) ironpython? I commonly use VB.NET and C#. How is ironpython if you compare it with languages.

I don't know anything of python. Will it be easy to learn. Where should I begin?

I also read that ironpython can be used as scripting language in .NET apps. Is this difficult to do?

For the people who use ironpython. Do you use it to make an entire apps or just some parts of it.

Answer 1

If I answer:

I don't know anything of python. Will it be easy to learn? Where should I begin?

Yes it is extremely easy to learn Python.

If you can spend one weekend you will be able to get reasonable amount of knowledge about Python Programming Language.

Best place to begin is Official Python Documentation

Answer 2

In general, you'll want to have a copy of the .NET Framework to develop in IronPython. IronPython uses .NET to execute, but in other respects, is very similar to the standard CPython implementation (differences are listed here).

You can use IronPython on Mono, provided you have at least version 1.1.7.

Many people like using Visual Studio for IronPython via IronPythonStudio, for an IDE. However, since it's standard python scripting, you can use a Python IDE as well.

IronPython is very different than C# or VB.NET, although, since it targets .NET, you can still use the .NET framework and write code in a similar fashion. The base language is fundamentally different, though (wheras VB.NET and C# are fairly similar, with just slightly different syntax).

The main python site has a great tutorial on Python - the page Whetting Your Appetite is good to see if Python is something you might be interested in learning.

Answer 3

Python is awesome, I have seen Python used for testing, however, there is some pretty powerful existing testing stuff, like MbUnit.

You might love Python for it is minimalist and clean, however C# is clean enough. Yes, you would use it for scripting. It totally beats VBA, I wish they had Python for Excel.

Answer 4

IronPython provides a convenient interface to .NET languages, like C#. You can, for example, reference a C# assembly and execute the functions in IronPython. Another great use case is COM interface scripting, for example with Excel. The IronPython cookbook provides more information on how to interface IronPython with Excel

I like (and use) IronPython mainly because it is easy to interface with the .NET world. Note, that IronPython is different from the 'regular' Python, aka CPython, which for a developer mainly means that not all Python libraries and built-in functions are available in IronPython. For me, this limitation has never been real a problem. The close relationship of IronPython to .NET makes up for that.