Making 3D Interfaces for Python with Unity3D
A while back I wrote a post on using with game engines as frontend interfaces. I want to enable rich interfaces in the Python ecosystem that are usable in virtual and augmented reality. Since then, I was able to build some basic concepts on top of Sofi and I’m here to share them.
Using Sofi and WebSockets to command game engines
Sofi works as a WebSocket server that can issue commands and handle events from a client. It’s written to simplify the use of frontend web technologies as interfaces to a Python backend. You can even package it as a desktop app with a desktop look and feel.
It functions by sending the user to a webpage with the basics needed to open a WebSocket client. This client then registers handlers that process server commands telling it how to alter the DOM or respond to events. All the logic resides with Python, the webpage is the user interface.
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How to Turn a Web App Into a Desktop App, Using Chromium and PyInstaller
Packaging and distributing your app sounds simple in principle. It’s just software. But in practice, it’s quite challenging.
I’ve been working on a Python module called Sofi that generates user interfaces. It can deliver a desktop feel while using standard single-page web technologies. For flexibility, I designed it to work through two methods of distribution: in-browser and executable.
Running in the browser, it functions much like a normal webpage. You can load it by opening a file, or launch it from your shell. I also built an executable that runs as a packaged app, independent and without external requirements.
Over time, as I hacked at code in Atom — my editor of choice these days — I remembered that Atom is actually a browser. It uses Node.js as a back end, and the Electron framework for its user interface.This inspired me to start poking at Electron’s internals, hoping to find examples and best practices on how they solved desktop packaging.
Continue readingSofi Unity3D - Connecting Python to Game Engines
Control Unity3D game environments through sofi by using WebSocketSharp as a client inside the game world.
On Democratizing the Next Generation of User Interfaces
Musings of a dev trying to plan for the future
I remember making a program come alive back in the days of the IBM System 23. It was my first endeavor into programming. I must have been 7 years old and already using terminals for data entry to help my dad out in his business. I wrote code that highlighted items on the screen in different shades. For the younger me, it was an achievement to be proud of, even though color was not yet available in these monitors.
Fast forward a few decades — yes, only a few — and we’re in a completely different universe. One where 3D gaming with thousands of people at the same time is possible. A space that collides with realistic physics, represented by lifelike graphics and beautiful scenery.
While a gigantic leap from the olden days of monochrome monitors and ASCII graphics. From a human’s perspective, there’s still a layer of separation between reality and the digital world. But we’re about ready to break through that barrier.
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Hacking Together a Simple Graphical Python Debugger
Zero-to-Debugging in 15 mins
You don’t realize the value of a debugger until you’re stuck working on a hard-to-visualize problem. But once you fire up a development environment with decent debugging capabilities, you’ll never look back.
Want to know where you’re at in code execution? What’s taking so long? Just pause it and check.
Wonder what value is assigned to that variable? Mouse over it.
Want to skip a bunch of code and continue running from a different section? Go for it.
Sometimes print(variable_name) is just not enough to give you an idea of what’s going on with your project. This is when a good debugger can help you figuring things out.
A Python Ate My GUI - Part 3: Implementation
Time to Bootstrap your D3, pick up that Python and hop on the Autobahn
If you aren’t aware of my earlier posts, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this series so that you get some context for this ongoing exercise.
Since I started thinking about and working on these posts, I’ve also been developing the ideas on GitHub as a side project I called sofi.
Sofi is a Python 3 package that serves as the starter implementation of the design discussed in Part 2: a system that will generate the necessary HTML and JavaScript code typically needed to produce a single-page application and serve it up through WebSockets (not an HTTP server).
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A Python Ate My GUI - Part 2: Design
In the first part of this series, we discussed a few existing modules that give us tools for building interfaces. I promised to come back with some ideas on how I would attempt to solve the situation, and this post is intended to cover aspects of my initial design.
However, first I need to discuss one more point on existing modules. In case you’re not aware, PyCon 2016 happened a few wks ago in Portland, and amongst the many wonderful talks, keynotes and open spaces, there was one in particular that is relevant to the topic of our discussion here: Russell Keith Magee’s talk on BeeWare and the work he’s done to solve the same problem. I highly recommend you take a look and help out with his projects if you can. It’s definitely a bold and brave solution that’s highly complex, but he already has it at a usable state and deserves massive props for going down that path. The Podcast.__init__ guys also have a great interview with him going over the details.
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