Prototyping and writing Skype extras using Python

The talk deals with Skype4Py, a Python extension package providing multiplatform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS) interface to Skype API.

With Skype4Py it is possible to create platform independent Python scripts (called extras in Skype nomenclature) that will work in the same way on all three major desktop platforms supported by Skype.

Despite the open-source nature of a Skype4Py, it can also be used in production of commercial, closed-source Skype extras as easy and quick way of prototyping. Currently this is especially easy on Windows because of the Skype4COM library which provides a largely similar interface to languages supporting the COM model like C#. Skype announced open sourcing of this library so we may also see a Linux port soon.

The talk will discuss the above ways of utilizing Skype together with Skype4Py and explore areas where this can be useful. A number of real world examples will also be presented.