Why Python is like BASIC (and why this is a good thing)
Gillou
nospam at bigfoot.com
Fri Feb 15 17:49:44 EST 2002
>
> * No need to declare variables. Use them and they are immediately
> created for you, ex nihilo.
You declare types in Basic (the Dim statement of VB and/or as var name
suffix)
>
> * NO LINE NUMBERS! Enough said.
...
> IF condition GOSUB line-number (I never did understand the necessity
> for that kind of statement until well after I'd stopped using BASIC
> entirely and moved to more "modern" languages like... Pascal).
Only old men like you and me remember this
>
> * Batteries included. This is the big one, which makes Python more than
> just a toy language suitable for learning. The richness of the
> standard library makes Python incredibly useful, and I for one would
> like to see it continue to grow. I understand the concern that people
> developing Python-based programs for distribution would like their
> users to be able to run a 100k script without downloading a 10M
> distribution, but I don't want to see that cause a reduction in the
> standard library. Instead, we could make make two Python
> distributions, a "full" install containing everything and a "lite"
> install containing only the interpreter and maybe -- *maybe* -- a
> couple of essential modules like os and sys. Then people developing
> Python programs like, say, a pygame-based game, could distribute a
> single package containing the "Python lite" distribution, their own
> code, and any other modules their code depended on -- all in one
> easy-for-the-end-used-to-install package.
And when downloading another one he gets the python interpreter again, and a
new copy of some packages...
No, Python deserves a dedicated RPMfind like utility that manages
dependencies (OS, python version, required modules...).
This would be a really great extension for distutils.
>
> Anyhow, I hope this helps develop some ideas.
>
> --
> Robin Munn
> rmunn at pobox.com
More information about the Python-list
mailing list