Question

I am about to start a personal project using python and I will be using it on both Linux(Fedora) and Windows(Vista), Although I might as well make it work on a mac while im at it. I have found an API for the GUI that will work on all 3. The reason I am asking is because I have always heard of small differences that are easily avoided if you know about them before starting. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions that fall along these lines?

Answer 1

In general:

• Be careful with paths. Use os.path wherever possible.
• Don’t assume that HOME points to the user’s home/profile directory.
• Avoid using things like unix-domain sockets, fifos, and other POSIX-specific stuff.

More specific stuff:

• If you’re using wxPython, note that there may be differences in things like which thread certain events are generated in. Don’t assume that events are generated in a specific thread. If you’re calling a method which triggers a GUI-event, don’t assume that event-handlers have completed by the time your method returns. (And vice versa, of course.)
• There are always differences in how a GUI will appear. Layouts are not always implemented in the exact same way.