Where Zope leads, Python follows. So it has been for a decade, and the trend doesn’t show any signs of st- ping. Whatever the latest buzzword—be it RESTful web programming,st- dardized interfaces, pluggable components, or practical restricted-execution environments, Zope has quietly led the way, delivering the goods years ahead of anyone else. Not just as technology concepts, but shipped and working in paying clients’ o?ces. And yet, strangely, Zope’s role in the ongoing development of Python is little-known and little-appreciated among Python developers. It is f- quently the case that some new and much-touted development in the Python community—especiallyin the web application and object security arenas—is something that Zope has already been doing for many years. I’m somewhat ba?ed by this peculiar blind spot in the Python com- nity.Even when I tell people that Zope’s already done something that they’re working on, the response is usually a blank look, or no response at all. It’s almost as if the innovations of Zope don’t really exist until somebody else reinvents them. In fact, the pattern has led me coin this little saying: Those who do not study Zope, are condemned to reinvent it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t plan to actually use Zope. Frankly, I haven’t used Zope in years. But the lessons I learned from Zope, I use constantly. Studying Zope—Zope 3 in particular—will make you a better programmer, without question.