Downloading and installing python-csp

At the moment the only way to obtain python-csp is via the Mercurial repository, this will change in the next few weeks as we head towards a full release. Also, python-csp is currently only available on Linux (although it will likely work for other UNIX variants).

So, for now to obtain python-csp you need to have Mercurial installed, then type this at the command line to download ("pull" in Mercurial parlance) python-csp into a new directory called python-csp:

$ hg clone https://python-csp.googlecode.com/hg/ python-csp

Then install python-csp using the usual Python setup protocol:

$ cd python-csp
$ sudo python setup.py install

Tool support

"Vanilla" Python comes with an interpreter shell that gives you access to the programming language, built in help, and so on. python-csp comes with a variant of this shell with some additions. To start the shell just type:

$ python-csp

at the command line, or, if you are using Gnome, you should have a python-csp entry on your Applications -> Programming menu.

Command history

Unlike the ordinary Python shell, by default the python-csp shell has command history enabled. This means that you can press the "up" or "down" arrows on your keyboard to scroll through the code you have entered into the shell, saving you valuable typing time.

python-csp specific help

You can use Python's help() function to examine any module, class, function or variable that comes with python-csp, just like you can with any other library. However, the python-csp shell comes with a set of specific documentation that you can access via the info command.

You can start by typing info csp to get general information about the python-csp library, or you can ask for info on a specific topic to drill down into the details. Note that info is a command and not a function, so you say info csp not info(csp).

Here's an example python-csp shell session:

$ python-csp

CSP Python (c) 2008. Licensed under the GPL(v2).
Type "info csp" for more information.
Press Ctrl-C to close the CSP channel server.

>>> info

*** python-csp: general info ***

python-csp is an implementation of Hoare's Communicating Sequential
Processes in Python. For specific info on any aspect of CSP, use the
following:

For info on Skip, type: 	info skip
For info on channels, type: 	info channel
For info on Alternative, type: 	info alt
For info on CSPServer, type: 	info server
For info on poisoning, type: 	info poison
For info on built-ins, type: 	info builtin
For info on Sequence, type: 	info seq
For info on Timer, type: 	info timer
For info on Parallel, type: 	info par
For info on processes, type: 	info process

>>>

Next in the tutorial ...

TutorialPage1 -- Creating and running processes

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