1.2 What is Cheetah?

Cheetah is a Python-powered template engine and code generator. It may be used as a standalone utility or combined with other tools. Cheetah has many potential uses, but web developers looking for a viable alternative to ASP, JSP, PHP and PSP are expected to be its principle user group.

Cheetah:

generates HTML, SGML, XML, SQL, Postscript, form email, LaTeX, or any other text-based format. It has also been used to produce Python, Java and PHP source code.
cleanly separates content, graphic design, and program code. This leads to highly modular, flexible, and reusable site architectures; faster development time; and HTML and program code that is easier to understand and maintain. It is particularly well suited for team efforts.
blends the power and flexibility of Python with a simple template language that non-programmers can understand.
gives template writers full access in their templates to any Python data structure, module, function, object, or method.
makes code reuse easy by providing an object-oriented interface to templates that is accessible from Python code or other Cheetah templates. One template can subclass another and selectively reimplement sections of it. A compiled template is a Python class, so it can subclass a pure Python class and vice-versa.
provides a simple yet powerful caching mechanism

Cheetah integrates tightly with Webware for Python (http://webware.sourceforge.net/): a Python-powered application server and persistent servlet framework. Webware provides automatic session, cookie, and user management and can be used with almost any operating-system, web server, or database. Through Python, it works with XML, SOAP, XML-RPC, CORBA, COM, DCOM, LDAP, IMAP, POP3, FTP, SSL, etc.. Python supports structured exception handling, threading, object serialization, unicode, string internationalization, advanced cryptography and more. It can also be extended with code and libraries written in C, C++, Java and other languages.

Like Python, Cheetah and Webware are Open Source software and are supported by active user communities. Together, they are a powerful and elegant framework for building dynamic web sites.

Like its namesake, Cheetah is fast, flexible and powerful.