[Zope3-dev] Re: IMPORTANT RFS: Through the Web Site Development

[Jon Whitener]

At 1/15/03 10:04 AM +0100, Paul Everitt wrote:
>[..]  While DTML has all of its quirks and problems, it still has one thing going for it: it resembles the way people were already doing their web applications (CFML, ASP, PHP, JSP).  The syntax is different, but the pattern is similar.
>
>ZPT *should* have been a smoother transition for them, as it leveraged something they already knew: HTML.  However, the concept of templating, dummy text, and replacement *isn't* something they have seen.  So perhaps the cost of embracing that concept is too high.
>
>Dunno.

In August 2002, I came to DTML and ZPT simultaneously, and proceeded exclusively with ZPT.    Granted, I was not entrenched in any previous dynamic technology (CFML, ASP, PHP, JSP), I just knew HTML and a little non-Web programming.  The overall concept of templating was clear to me immediately, because it matched what I wanted from a Web development tool.  After an afternoon, I understood dummy text and replacement sufficiently to proceed.

My reasons for choosing ZPT:

- ZPT would "play nicely with editing tools".  BIG REASON!

- People on the mail-lists, and recent Web docs, promoted ZPT over DTML.

- The idea of using an XML-namespace-based technique (ZPT) seemed more "future-proof".

- ZPT helped separate logic and content.

- *After some investigation*, I realized that since ZPT was more explicit, it thus made better sense, even if the syntax seemed more complex.

I think that DTML *appears* at first to be really slick and easy, especially that cool <dtml-in>.  By "appears", I mean the text of it actually looks much easier than ZPT.  I can tell you that in my first glances at ZPT statements, especially those with a "python:" expression, ZPT looked like a crazy mess.

But these are merely first impressions.  Many people coming to HTML for the first time have had the same "what the hell is this?" reaction.

It took me a single read through the ZPT part of the Zope Book to understand it enough to leave behind my fear of it.  More challenging was understanding the ZPT "container", "here", and "request" names because they related to other (new to me) Zope concepts.

A couple other notes: I actually *like* the idea of embedding my TAL statements in HTML element tags - it find it elegant.  One aspect of ZPT I have yet to touch at this point is METAL.  So far, I'm getting along well with out METAL.

Jon Whitener
Detroit Michigan USA