Kamaelia 0.5.0 Released!

Kamaelia is an intuitive way to structure applications -- as a network of components which message each other. Much like Unix pipes implemented in Python. It was originally designed by BBC Research for rapid development of server software.

Here's a taster of what a Kamaelia application looks like: (built with the GUI)

And here's some equivalent Python code:

Pipeline(
  ConsoleReader(eol=""),
  SimpleHTTPClient(),
  SimpleFileWriter("downloadedfile.txt"),
).run()

Those 5 lines of Python give you a console-based HTTP downloading program (like wget or curl but with less options) using existing components.

• the console reader sends lines of text (URLs) the user enters to...
• the HTTP client, which fetches the associated page. It then forwards on the page data to...
  
• the file writer, which appends all messages it's sent to a file on disk.

It's as simple as that.

Version 0.5.0 is a major release - lots of functionality has been added from Google Summer of Code 2006. Key highlights of this release:

• BitTorrent support (using the official BitTorrent client) - includes preliminary 'streaming over BitTorrent' support. Lets you integrate P2P in your own Kamaelia applications.
  

  

• HTTP client and nascent seaside-style pure-python webserver
  
• OpenGL (e.g. the checkers/draughts board on the right)
• Strong DVB (freeview TV) support on Linux - including the foundations of a PVR
• Collaborative whiteboarding with audio (speex encoded) - draw and talk together over the internet
• Visual composition of Kamaelia systems - create and link components on screen, see the code produced (the screenshot near the top of the article)
  

For more information see the Kamaelia website. You can get a copy of Kamaelia and Axon from Sourceforge, together with most of the dependencies in the mega bundle. If you have any problems or questions, just pop along to #kamaelia on irc.freenode.net. No Python experience is needed to get started!