newbie

[Alex Martelli]

"Brett g Porter" <BgPorter at NOartlogicSPAM.com> wrote in message
news:0SXH5.72992$ib7.10053637 at news1.rdc1.nj.home.com...
>
> "Alex Martelli" <aleaxit at yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:8sov2g0142d at news1.newsguy.com...
> >
> > If C++ is your goal, then, after you've used Python to learn programming
> > reasonably well, you may as well jump right into C++ with the aid of a
> > good tutorial (I suggest Lippman and Lajoie's -- by far the best IMHO;
> > it's published by Addison-Wesley).
> I recommend Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in C++" -- you can download it for
free
> (full text!) at <http://www.bruceeckel.com> -- the first edition was the
> book that finally turned me from a C programmer into a native-speaking C++
> programmer. The second edition is designed for someone with little or no C
> experience. Then keep checking back to see if he's finally started writing
> his "Thinking in Python" book.

If he's taken away the need for previous C experience, then it may
have reached or surpassed the L&J one -- I only knew version 1 and,
while good, it _did_ need that previous experience.


> > C++ is *horrendously* difficult (its
> > main defect, again IMHO)
> Well, yes and no. There's a sane and simple subset that's easily learned
and
> used. Most people never have need for the more obscure corners of the
> language. But when I need them, I'm comforted knowing that they're there.

No way.  The "obscure pieces" slip in by mistake -- over and over again.

One of my main roles here at work is as "obscure-stuff consultant" --
dozens of colleagues trying to use a not-wholly-insane and not-horribly-
complex ('simple' would be a BIG overbid anyway -- *Python* is simple...)
subset, who keep coming to me to understand what has happened in a
given situation and how to fix it.


>  By the same token WRT Python -- hands up, everyone who _really_
understands
> and can use the Beaudry hook. How far can you go as a Python programmer
> without that? Pretty far, but I love knowing that it's there should I ever
> need it.

I use metaclasses through higher-level abstractions relying on
Beaudry (ExtensionClass, py_cpp, ...), so the hook itself never
intrudes (nor would I worry about it staying around, as long
as ExtensionClass and py_cpp keep working by whatever means:-).


Alex