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we2py is a framework for rapid development of secure database-driven Internet
applications. It is written in and is programmable in Python. It comprises libraries,
applications, and reusable examples.
Created in 2007,web2py has grown, evolved, and improved tremendously, thanks to
the work of many developers who have been using the framework. We thank them all.
web2py has evolved rapidly in the last two years, so much so that it has been difficult to
keep the official documentation current. Although web2py is always backwards-compatible,
new APIs have been created, providing new ways to solve old problems.
A large body of knowledge has accumulated in third-party websites, such as wikis, blogs,
and mailing lists. Two resources, in particular, have been very valuable to web2py users: the
web2py Google Group and the http://www.web2pyslices.com/website. Yet the quality
of the information provided there varies, as some of the recipes have become outdated.
This book started from the need to collect that information, clean it up, update it, and
separate the important and recurrent problems that users try to solve from other issues,
which do not represent the general interest.
The most recurrent problems encountered by users include deploying web2py in a
production-ready configuration, building complex applications using reusable components,
generating PDF reports, customizing forms and authentication, using third-party libraries
(jQuery plugins in particular), and interfacing with third-party web services.
Collecting this information and organizing it in this book has taken us more than a year.
More people than the listed authors have knowingly and unknowingly contributed. Some of
the code used here is, in fact, based on code already published online, although that code
has been refactored, tested, and documented better here. |