White Oak Technologies, Inc., Google, Sun Microsystems Sponsor World's Largest Python Conference

CHICAGO - March 24, 2009 - PyCon 2009, the largest annual conference of the worldwide Python programming community, takes place March 25 - April 2 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare in Chicago, IL. The core conference runs March 27-29, with days of special events both before and after the main conference.


Last December's release of Python 3.0 marks one of the most important events in Python's history, and PyCon 2009 provides developers a chance to learn to adapt to it from the worldwide masters of Python programming. Though Python's 2.x series will remain viable for years, the Python community is clearly excited about the way forward paved by Python 3.0. Several PyCon sessions will cover features new to the 3.0 release and techniques for writing Python 3.0 code. Following the main conference days (March 27-29), eighteen major Python-based projects and the Python language core itself will gather attendees for four days of development sprints, where usually far-flung groups will work together to improve and extend their project codebases, and adapt them to Python 3.0's new possibilities.
Python continues to advance in popularity and is acknowledged as one of the most important and useful languages in the IT community. In the past year, the Python language has been awarded the Linux New Media "Best Open Source Programming Language" award and the LinuxQuestions.org Language of the Year, and is currently at position 6 in the TIOBE Programming Community Index. Alan Broder, President of White Oak Technologies, Inc., says, "Since its inception in the late 1990's, WOTI's excellent reputation as a developer of high-performance software has depended on its ability to find top developers who can develop and deliver excellent software products. The marketplace for top technical talent in the Washington DC area is quite competitive, so we needed to choose a language that would enable WOTI to recruit from the widest possible pool of developers. As accomplished developers in C/C++, Lisp, Perl, and other languages, we decided to conduct an experiment to try and build identical web-client applications in both Python and Java, starting with little knowledge of either language. The results were dramatic - including all learning time, we were able to build our first viable Python application in far less time than the equivalent Java application. Python was the obvious choice, and since then, we've not looked back. We're quite pleased that Python continues to provide us with a competitive edge."

Twenty-five industry leaders have joined to sponsor PyCon 2009, including White Oak Technologies, Inc. (Diamond); Google and Sun Microsystems (Platinum); and ESRI, CCP, Visual Numerics, Microsoft, slide.com, and Walt Disney Animation Studios (Gold).


PyCon 2009 includes over eighty-five talks and keynotes, plus Open Spaces, Lightning Talks, and nighttime events - activities that give attendees chances to meet and learn from each other in unstructured and semi-structured ways. An Expo Hall will bring attendees together with sponsors and vendors.


The core PyCon conference days (March 27-29) are preceded by two days (March 25-26) of intensive half-day tutorials. Two invitation-only summit meetings, the Virtual Machine Summit and the Python Community Summit, will run concurrently with the tutorials. These first-time-ever summit meetings will give leaders from the Python and other dynamic programming language communities an opportunity to share ideas and strategize together. All PyCon attendees are invited to stay after the core conference for development sprints (March 30 - April 2).

About Python

Python is an open-source, dynamically typed, object-oriented programming language that can be used in nearly the entire range of technology applications. It offers an easy learning curve and access to a vast array of libraries. With implementations available for all common operating systems as well as the Java and .NET platforms, Python can be used on virtually any system in existence. Like other open-source, dynamic languages, it offers rapid productivity and a vigorous developer community; at the same time, Python's clarity and reliability give confidence to enterprise users. The December 2008 release of Python 3.0 marks a major milestone in Python's history, bringing new levels of clarity, consistency, and power to Python code.


About PyCon

Presented by the Python Software Foundation, the world’s largest Python conference brings together a diverse group of developers, enthusiasts, and organizations to explore new challenges, launch new businesses and forge new connections within the Python community. PyCon provides attendees with the opportunity to delve into the dynamic programming language employed by well-known companies such as Google, Cisco, and the New York Times. PyCon helps people learn new tools and techniques, present their own projects, and meet other Python fans. Press passes to the conference are available for members of the press who would like to see PyCon in person.


About White Oak Technologies, Inc.

White Oak Technologies, Inc. (WOTI) provides the next generation of solutions to massive, information-intensive, strategic intelligence challenges. WOTI, with its industry-leading expert staff, is a premier provider of advanced software technologies. Python is WOTI's primary programming language for solving many or our clients' problems. As a past sponsor of PyCon, WOTI is honored to further support the Python community through PyCon 2009. For more information, visit www.woti.com.