Comment Re:Explain Python to me (Score 2, Insightful) 246
> Python can't realistically support Lisp-style macros, doesn't support true closures, and many
> other things of Goodness that make Lisp languages so good for rapid coding.
Strange that Python doesn't support Fortran type line numbers or BASIC type OPEN statements either. If you want to use Lisp, use Lisp. Python is its own animal.
> Python is slow. So we have a slow language. So what?
Exactly. So what. The speed of the interpreter is usually not the bottle-neck in most app domains. If it is, use a different language. Python is fast enough for most uses, and can easily bind to libraries in C or what-have-you for those parts of your app that need performance.
In the meantime, you can develop your program faster and more error-free, by a factor of 5x or 10x depending on which study you believe. Getting a project done, on time, on budget, and working correctly is more impotant than speed almost always.
> A malformed object oriented system.
I am not a purist. I like to get work done, and have other people understand what I am doing and why. Python has a highly usable object-oriented architecture that works very easily for 99% of what I need, and can be hacked (thanks to its marvellous introspection) for the other 1%.
Python is easy to learn, easy to write, easy to read, and produces bug-free code faster than any language I have ever used. The number of rules I have to keep in my head is approaching zero.
Really, your comments demonstrate that either a) you have never programmed a real-world project in Python, or b) you are too attached to Lisp to give Python a fair shot.
Either way, you apparently care more for theoretical concerns than practical, and so are not a good candidate for Python anyway.
robin
> other things of Goodness that make Lisp languages so good for rapid coding.
Strange that Python doesn't support Fortran type line numbers or BASIC type OPEN statements either. If you want to use Lisp, use Lisp. Python is its own animal.
> Python is slow. So we have a slow language. So what?
Exactly. So what. The speed of the interpreter is usually not the bottle-neck in most app domains. If it is, use a different language. Python is fast enough for most uses, and can easily bind to libraries in C or what-have-you for those parts of your app that need performance.
In the meantime, you can develop your program faster and more error-free, by a factor of 5x or 10x depending on which study you believe. Getting a project done, on time, on budget, and working correctly is more impotant than speed almost always.
> A malformed object oriented system.
I am not a purist. I like to get work done, and have other people understand what I am doing and why. Python has a highly usable object-oriented architecture that works very easily for 99% of what I need, and can be hacked (thanks to its marvellous introspection) for the other 1%.
Python is easy to learn, easy to write, easy to read, and produces bug-free code faster than any language I have ever used. The number of rules I have to keep in my head is approaching zero.
Really, your comments demonstrate that either a) you have never programmed a real-world project in Python, or b) you are too attached to Lisp to give Python a fair shot.
Either way, you apparently care more for theoretical concerns than practical, and so are not a good candidate for Python anyway.
robin
