Python Productivity over C++

[Bill McClain]

In <8F4E9C028stevemulozemailcomau at 139.130.250.4>, "stevemul at ozemail.com.au (Steve Mullarkey)" wrote:

> I have read in several places productivity claims of 5 to 10 times over
> 'C' and "C++". I would like to ask for some feedback from "C++"
> programmers who have moved to Python as to whether these estimates are
> realistic.

I've been using C++ for work for several years and use Python at home. I'm
trying to introduce Python at work.

What frustrates me about C++ is the enormous declarative overhead required
to get anything done. Every class requires me to instruct the compiler on
how to copy, assign, compare and reference objects, and how subclasses
are allowed to inherit from the parent. STL works well for data structures,
but the advanced features are very cumbersome.

Much of this burden simply vanishes with Python.

When my coworkers come to me for help, I always warn them: C++ is a 
difficult language to use _well_. The types of issues everyone
eventually encounters can be found at Herb Sutter's "Guru of the
Week": 

    http://www.peerdirect.com/resources/
    
It's not pretty.
    
-Bill