How to sell Python to your boss?

[Sam Schulenburg]

I would try to work out a compromise with your boss. Present him/her
with the idea that you will prototype the project with Python as a
proof of concept, and the rewrite the code in C/C++. I have found that
this approch produces faster more effecient C/C++ code.

Sam Schulenburg


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Petri Mikael Kuittinen [mailto:eye at niksula.hut.fi]
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 1999 11:54 AM
> To: python-list at cwi.nl
> Subject: How to sell Python to your boss?
>
> I proposed an interesting idea to my employer for my final thesis.
>
> My proposed final thesis includes:
> - a prototype implementation of networked multi-player video gambling
> game (which also has a single-player mode)
> - a design of a network protocol to allow this and automated testing
> of the game (including several automated test player programs which
> have different kind of AI). This protocol and test system is designed
> so that it can easily be expanded to handle any sort of gambling game
>
> Most of the work is design, documentation and programming a
> rudimentary, but easy-to-use, GUI for the multi-player game. My boss
> otherwise agreed with my idea ("it would be really useful..."), but he
> doesn't want me to do the prototype implementation using Python. He
> said I must use a program language that all the other programmers in
> our R&D department understand. Well, that leaves only one choice: C
>
> Some of my game programmer colleagues know a little bit of C++, Java
> and Perl, but these languages cannot be used either. Operating system
> or CPU power is not a problem here (I can use Linux and several
> hundred MHz of CPU power).
>
> I have lots of programming experience in C, and much less in
> Python. Despite this I am confident that I would be able to implement
> the prototype using Python many times faster than using C. Sure I can
> do it with C, or even with assembler (I have made a GUI with m68k
> asm), but parsing text strings and prototype GUI design is so
> laborious in C, that I would only be able to implement a tiny portion
> of the whole thing.
>
> I can understand my bosses opinion. He wants to protect the interest
> of this firm. If I would leave the firm, then someone else would have
> tp spend time learning Python in order to modify my program code.
>
> For several months I have tried to get my colleagues excited to learn
> Python, but so far nobody has been interested to learn new languages,
> except for some mild interest towards Java (which is IMHO an
> overly-hyped language).
>
> Petri
>
> --
> <(O)> Petri Kuittinen, also known as Eye, Dj Eye or
Peku               <(O)>
> <(O)> ADDRESS: Timpurinkuja 1 C 39, FIN-02600 Espoo,
Finland           <(O)>
> <(O)> EMAIL: eye at iki.fi WWW: http://www.iki.fi/~eye/ PHONE: 09-
5472380 <(O)>
> ~The only way to avoid mistakes is to do nothing or try not anything
new.
>


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