Underscore data hiding (was python development practices?)

[Peter Wang]

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 18:42:03 -0600, Skip Montanaro <skip at pobox.com>
wrote:

>Smiley or not, you seem to be trying a bit too hard to compare Python with
>C++.  They serve dramatically different audiences.  
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

what are these dramatically different audiences?  i'm pretty certain
that python is well suited for many things which would have defaulted
to C++ many years ago.  there are certain features of C++ which make
it attractive for specific applications, but even in those scenarios,
if flexibility or scriptability is needed, python typically fits the
bill.

i'm a relative newbie at software development; i don't boast the
decades of professional programming experience.  however, just from
observing developments in the software field, it seems that python's
mindshare is steadily increasing as people turn to it from visual
basic, lisp, perl, and C++ for applications which would have simply
been done with whatever cumbersome language was default in the
platform/application field.  my questions about commericial
development with python arise from my C++ background and my
experiences with a team of fairly young C++ programmers.  the direct
comparison with C++ in the previous post was meant to be humorous, but
i cannot deny the reality of how much C++ has shaped my (and many
others') experiences with OOP.

>After all, "we're all
>adults here".  That held true when I first heard it several years ago and it
>holds true today.

i'm also a relative newbie at being an adult, so i will ask
forgiveness for my transgression..

;)

-peter