Jython Essentials

Appendix A. Installing Jython

Before you can run Jython, you need to download it and install it. Jython information is available on the Web at: http://www.jython.org. The home page contains the most up-to-date information about versions. The specific download page is http://www.jython.org/download.html. Typically, the latest stable version and the latest development version are both available. As of this writing, the latest version is Jython 2.1, and development versions for Jython 2.2. Jython version numbering is intended to correspond to the CPython version whose features are being matched. The Jython version typically comes out three to six months after the CPython version.

To run Jython, you also need a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)—preferably JDK 1.2 or higher. However, not all JVMs will work for Jython. If the JVM is not 100% compatible, it’s likely that Jython will flush the problems out. On most platforms, the recommended JVM is the JDK/JSK from Sun, Version 1.3 or higher, available at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/. Version 1.4, in beta as of this writing, speeds up class reflection in such a way as to promise a significant performance enhancement for Jython. The Linux Blackdown JVM and IBM’s JVM have also both been tested. More complete information on platform and JVM options is available at http://www.jython.org/platform.html.

Jython is distributed as a self-extracting Java .class file. Once you download it, you need to run the file through your Java runtime. The exact command ...