Installation of Python Image Library (PIL)

It will be a problems with PIL installation on  Windows 7 64 bit, so you will need to install library from source code:

1. Download PIL library source code from http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/
2. Unpack it to any  folder, for example C:\PIL
3. Run in command prompt (cmd):

   cd c:\PIL
   python setup.py install

   This will install library, but without support for TKINTER, JPEG, ZLIB (PNG/ZIP) and FREETYPE2 (i.e. actually without anything )

So let’s add support for at least JPEG and PNG. To do this, you will need to download following libraries:

1. libtiff – download sources (zip) from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/tiff.htm
2. zlib – download sources (zip) from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/zlib.htm
3. libjpg – download sources (zip) from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/jpeg.htm

Following blog posts will help you to continue with installation:

• http://www.wiredfool.com/2005/10/29/how-to-build-the-python-imaging-library-for-windows (in case if you want to use Visual Studio to build libraries)
• http://boodebr.org/main/python/build-windows-extensions (in case if you going to use open source software like MinGW or Cygwin to build libraries)

Notes:

1. Possible that you will need to remove

    include <unistd.h>

   from some *.h source files as this needed to be included only on Unix (ok, at least not on Windows)
   For example you will need to delete such line from zconf.h in zlib sources before try to run nmake for zlib.

2. Don’t forget to set PIL library pointers (in setup.py of PIL) to point to the locations where you put zlib, libjpg and libtiff. If you forget to setup  - PIL will not found them and you will get what I describe in the beging of post – I.e. nothing .
   This is for example what you need to set for zlib in setup.py of PIL in case if you copy zlib sources to c:\PIL\zlib folder (I assume that you unzip PIL into c:\PIL here):

   ZLIB_ROOT = './zlib'

3. You also can found yourself with finding all the 32-bit times “__time32_t” and changing it to “time_t” for 64-bit conversion

We are going to use MySQL database for all “Evejob” versions, except versions for  .NET platform.

So let’s install MySQL Community Edition Server. You can get installation files from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

Be sure that you download 64 bit version for Windows, like Windows MSI Installer (AMD64 / Intel EM64T), from here http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.1.html#winx64 for example.

Installation of MySQL for Windows is simple operation (in contrast to configuration MySQL for production usage), so I will skip installation steps here… We can leave all settings by default – it’s enough for development purposes on local machine.

To manage database you can download GUI Tools from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools/.

Also note that exists A LOT of free / not free and excellent tools to manage / design MySQL databases (for both development and production).

I will list here just some of them:

• MySQL Workbench – “visual database design application that can be used to efficiently design, manage and document database”
• Navicat for MySQL – powerful database administration and development tool (without complex visual design features) available in both commercial and Non-commercial (Free) Lite version
• DevArt dbForge Studio for MySQL – “cutting-edge administration tool and development environment for professional working with MySQL databases” and this is TRUE! Best that I see for MySQL!!! Highly recommended! Sure Express version (that is free) is very limited, so probably after 30 days trial period you will buy Non-Commercial Professional Edition License (cost only 99$) or Commercial for 199$ (more info about versions / prices here)
• SQLyog MySQL – “the most powerful MySQL manager and admin tool, combining the features of MySQL Query Browser, Administrator, phpMyAdmin and various other MySQL Front Ends and MySQL GUI tools in a single intuitive interface” – actually I think this tools make sense to use more during maintenance period than during development and because they are not free I recommend to skip them for now…

After installation of MySQL, you just need to know for development following information (that you setup during installation):

1. Server Host (”localhost” in your case, if you install it on your local machine) and port (default 3306)
2. Username (usually root)
3. Password (you enter it during installation of MySQL or even possible you leave it blank – sure NOT for production!)

Now using this connection parameters, you can run MySQL Administrator (from GUI MySQL Tools) or any administrator utility and check connectivity. If everything OK and you see all 3 schemes (”information_schema”, “mysql” and “test”), you can move forward and start development using MySQL as primary database.

Let’s start with installation and configuration of the IntelliJ IDEA IDE for RoR / GoG / Django and Google App Engine development.

At the time I write this article, version 8 is available and version 9 (Maia) only at pre-release stages… So we start development in version 8 (but with really huge interest we will wait for version 9!). Also please note that community version of IDE is lack some important functions, so we going to use commercial version (30 day trial will be enough to start)

So go to http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/, download and start installation of Windows version of IntelliJ IDEA. During installation you need to select the plugins to enable. Made following selection (I am going to use Git and Subversion version controls systems in Evejob project)

On next screen, when IDEA will ask you about Web/JavaEE plugins I recommend to leave all options selected (unless you know that you not going to use some of Java technologies in near future) dues to the fact that when we move to Grails development, some of this plug ins will be in used.

On “Select Application Server Plugins” I also recommend to leave all options, as probably we will want to test hosting of application on as much Web Servers as possible (unless you know specific server requirements) – it is exactly way I am going to develop Evejob!

Same way, I recommend to leave all HTML / JavaScript development Plugins and Other Plugins selected (unless you know for sure which one you going to use and which one not… seems effort to enable them later can be more then performance issues in case if you just leave everything enabled, at least on latest hardware).

In case if you have only one developer machine, on next screen with “IDEA Server Account details” you can just select “Do not login”, press “Skip”

and move forward to the end of installation.

Finish!

But wait – it’s not all – we need also to install plugins for RoR, Django and even Google AppEngine (Grails support build in to IntelliJ IDEA 8)…

Let’s start:
- go to File / Settings
- in Settings window found at left list box “Plugins” item and select it.

- open tab Available

- wait few seconds, until get a list of all available plugins in JetBrains database.

- in search box, start typing “Python”.

- select “Python” plugin in filtered list

- right click and press “Download and Install” link

Plugin will be downloaded and installed for you (usually takes few minutes)!

Now it is time to install same way “Ruby” and “Google App Engine” plugins…

After you install all 3 plugins, press “Apply” button and answer “Yes” to the question about restart IDEA to activate changes in plugins.

That’s it with IntelliJ IDEA installation!

Based on my experience, I suggest to install .NET developer environment in following order:

1) Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (Express with Tools or Express with Advanced Services minimum, as you probably will want to use at least Management Studio after installation… Sure if you have developer, standard or enterprise versions just install them)

2) Visual Studio 2008

3) Service Packs for Visual Studio and Service Packs for SQL Server (order here i think simply does not make any difference)

If you install SQL Server and Visual Studio in wrong order (i.e. Visual Studio and than SQL Server), you will probably have at least issues with Management Studio 2008 installation (update from Management Studio 2005) together with other ’small’, but time consuming issues…