Learn more about the PSF Python Brochure Project

What will the brochure look like ?

The Python brochure will have 32 pages printed in full color in A4 format (210x297mm).

• 24 pages of content.
• 4 Pages with ads
• 2 for a company register

The production of the brochure is financed by ads and the company register. For more information about these sponsorship conditions, head over to the sponsor page.

You can see the preliminary cover page of the brochure on the right side.

Python – a programming language changes the world: this is the title and the message of the brochure. We will show how Python has changed the way we write programs and run projects and how Python has given us back the joy of programming.

A preview of some of the brochure pages is available in form of a teaser booklet we created for PyCon US 2012.

What will the brochure cover ?

The brochure contains real life use cases of Python programming. It will show case Python projects with great impact, fascinating aspect or interesting twist from all application spaces covering use cases in business, science, industry, education, media, government, public sector and charity.

It will show people that Python is mature enough to be used in mission-critical systems to e.g. move billions of dollars through financial trading systems, run tests for NASA's Space Shuttle, collect VAT taxes from traders at the national level, or semi-autonomously control giant robots. Topics that are interesting to people without having to know a lot about computers or programming.

Why do we need the brochure ?

Python has for a long time only been marketed via word of mouth, books, conferences and community events. This strategy has been very successful in reaching out to developers and people already interested in the computer programming feld.

However, reaching out to people not in the IT business or people who are not working at the level of developers, has not worked out too well. We have a website built for developers. We have lots and lots of mailing lists, blogs, IRC and Twitter accounts. We have conferences for people to check up on the latest Python developments.

The problem with these resources is that they are

• too technical
• only provide pull-based information

Managers don't bother reading developer documentation, CEOs want distilled information served right up to them, governments and larger corporations all require passing information through deeply nested decision making processes – with lots of potential for information loss and certainly no desire to go through the same information retrieval process at each level.

In short:

We need a way to give these non-developers an easy way to get the information they want in a format that suits their needs, i.e. printed material and PDFs with high level introductions based on real-life use cases.

Our Target Groups

• CIOs
• chief architects
• scientists
• programmers
• teachers
• lecturers
• students
• customers
• clients
• managers
• employees

I have an interesting project. How can I get in touch with you ?

We would like to present case studies that demonstrate how well Python can be used to implement and run real-life use cases – topics that are interesting to a wide audience and without requiring to know a lot about computers or programming.

If you work on or know about such a project, please contact us at the following mail address: brochure [at] getpython [dot] info. Thank you!

How can I help by sponsoring the project ?

We have made several sponsoring options available.

Please see the Sponsorship page for details.

Who's running the show ?

In April 2010, one of the PSF board members, Marc-André Lemburg, sat down in a local WorldPloneDay meeting and started reading the then new Plone brochure. It occurred to him, that Python was in bad need for a similar high quality brochure – for the reasons stated above.
Fortunately, the two key figures in producing the Plone brochure, Armin Stroß-Radschinski and Jan Ulrich Hasecke, were present at the same WorldPloneDay meeting. So we got in touch, discussed the idea and started to work out a proposal for the Python Software Foundation (PSF) to underwrite a project for producing the first PSF Python Brochure with a 10,000 copy first edition.
By December 2010 the PSF had approved the project, and since January 2011 we're busy working out message, structure and content of the brochure.

The PSF Python Brochure Team