History and License — Mod_python v3.5.0-3.5.0 documentation

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# History and License

## History

Mod_python originates from a project called Httpdapy (1997). For a long time Httpdapy was not called mod_python because Httpdapy was not meant to be Apache-specific. Httpdapy was designed to be cross-platform and in fact was initially written for the Netscape server (back then it was called Nsapy (1997)).

Nsapy itself was based on an original concept and first code by Aaron Watters from “Internet Programming with Python” by Aaron Watters, Guido Van Rossum and James C. Ahlstrom, ISBN 1-55851-484-8.

Without Aaron’s inspiration, there would be no mod_python. Quoting from the Httpdapy README file:

    Although Nsapy only worked with Netscape servers, it was very
    generic in its design and was based on some brilliant ideas that
    weren't necessarily Netscape specific. Its design is a combination
    of extensibility, simplicity and efficiency that takes advantage of
    many of the key benefits of Python and is totally in the spirit of
    Python.

This excerpt from the Httpdapy README file describes well the challenges and the solution provided by embedding Python within the HTTP server:

    While developing my first WWW applications a few years back, I
    found that using CGI for programs that need to connect to
    relational databases (commercial or not) is too slow because every
    hit requires loading of the interpreter executable which can be
    megabytes in size, any database libraries that can themselves be
    pretty big, plus, the database connection/authentication process
    carries a very significant overhead because it involves things like
    DNS resolutions, encryption, memory allocation, etc.. Under
    pressure to speed up the application, I nearly gave up the idea of
    using Python for the project and started researching other tools
    that claimed to specialize in www database integration. I did not
    have any faith in MS's ASP; was quite frustrated by Netscape
    LiveWire's slow performance and bugginess; Cold Fusion seemed
    promising, but I soon learned that writing in html-like tags makes
    programs as readable as assembly. Same is true for PHP. Besides, I
    *really* wanted to write things in Python.

    Around the same time the Internet Programming With Python book came
    out and the chapter describing how to embed Python within Netscape
    server immediately caught my attention.  I used the example in my
    project, and developed an improved version of what I later called
    Nsapy that compiled on both Windows NT and Solaris.

    Although Nsapy only worked with Netscape servers, it was a very
    intelligent generic OO design that, in the spirit of Python, that
    lent itself for easy portability to other web servers.

    Incidently, the popularity of Netscape's servers was taking a turn
    south, and so I set out to port Nsapy to other servers starting
    with the most popular one, Apache. And so from Nsapy was born
    Httpdapy.

...continuing this saga, yours truly later learned that writing Httpdapy for every server is a task a little bigger and less interesting than I originally imagined.

Instead, it seemed like providing a Python counterpart to the popular Perl Apache extension mod_perl that would give Python users the same (or better) capability would be a much more exciting thing to do.

And so it was done. The first release of mod_python happened in May of 2000.

## License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

> http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

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