Python vs. VB

[Bill Wilkinson]

I have recently made the move from VBA to Python, there is a world of
difference.  I write simulation code (industrial engineering / ops
research).

Code that was a drudgery write in vb is very easy and pleasant in
Python.  Also, I have found that as I replace the vb code with Python,
my loc count is going down considerably.  There are entire modules in
VB that I will not have to rewrite because they are not needed in
Python.  (Email me if you want examples of this).

As for speed. I was originally concerned about the speed difference
between vb and Python. (VB has highly optimized loops). But to my great
suprise, on average, my Python code is performing tasks more quickly
than the old vb code.  For example,  I had a routine that inverted a
table that contained 29 fields and 900 records.  The Python version of
this routine works a good bit faster, and it has the additional benifit
of being able to easily be run from a cgi script.

I am realizing, real world benefits from using Python.  Benefits that
are measurable by increased productivity.  Another thing that is
extremely important for me is that I spend much more time thinking
about the "problem domain" than about how to trick my programming
language into accomplishing a task.

Hope this helps.

Bill Wilkinson


In article <37408d66.348071859 at news.esinet.net>,
  rstephan at yahoo.com (Roy Stephan) wrote:
> On 17 May 1999 16:38:54 -0500, claird at Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Cameron
> Laird) wrote:
>
> >In article <37407bc5.343558265 at news.esinet.net>,
> >>I would like the COM objects to be implimented in Python rather than
> >>VB.
> >			.
> >Yes, but most interesting are the pertinent ones.
> >What matters to your decision-makers beside the
>
> Okay, good, if you want more information...
>
> We developed a number of database objects in VB that were difficult to
> incorporate with delphi scripts.  They also ran painfully slow and
> were difficult to extend.  We are in the process of re-writting them
> in C++.  The problem is that we have a lot of programmers here that
> know VB.  I am the only one with any knowledge of Python.  I have
> asked about doing my more high level development in C++ and they feel
> that is overboard for the business apps.
>
>   I think that they are ripe to be plucked but I can not go in there
> and just state that Microsoft sucks.  Most of the benchmarks that I
> have done with VB show it doing fairly well.  Someone has gone through
> before me and convinced the managment that VB is 100% object oriented,
> so that is a tough battle there.
>   I am currently learning COM development and I think that if I can
> show that it is easy in Python and demonstrate some quick and useful
> classes I might get them.  I was wondering if people had any further
> ideas for me to buffer my examples with (they probably will not really
> understand the examples anyways).  I need some things to point to them
> to in order to convince them that Python is a capable development
> environment.
>
>   I was wondering if there are any pamphlets or web pages out there
> that describe Python in the language of marketers/managers.  Most of
> it is programmer oriented and that is what won me over, but I am
> looking for help moving the key points into a laser light show.
>
>   I think that I can make some points about the ability to learn it
> easily.  That is one of the great things about VB (in their eyes), but
> I could use some testimonials or case studies where non-programers
> picked up Python quickly.  Really I will use any good, management spin
> that people can think of.
>
> --Roy
> http://www.snl.com
>
> >Cameron Laird           http://starbase.neosoft.com/~claird/home.html
> >claird at NeoSoft.com      +1 281 996 8546 FAX
>
>


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