Python is just as good as C++ for real apps

[Donovan Rebbechi]

In article <837kq95vi8.fsf at panacea.canonical.org>, Kragen Sitaker wrote:
> Donovan Rebbechi <elflord at panix.com> writes:
>> Hahahahaha ... who cares ? "Python knowledge", "C++ knowledge", or any other
>> kind of language specific knowledge is almost worthless. 
> 
> Before a person studies programming, learning Python is learning
> Python, learning C is learning C, and learning MFC is learning MFC.
> After a first glimpse into the truth of programming, learning Python
> is not learning Python, learning C is not learning C, and learning MFC
> is not learning MFC.  After they know how to program, learning C is
> once again learning C and learning Python once again learning Python.

Yep. This is one reason why learning "the truth of programming" should be 
a goal for every programmer.

> To someone who does not know how to program, or who is only beginning,
> different languages seem to have little in common.  Learning to solve

IMO, a good approach is to become proficient in one language before 
diversifying. That way, you actually get to the point where you can 
just program, and not worry about syntax. At the time I learned Python,
the indentation syntax seemed natural.
 
>> If you've mastered the paradigms, picking up a new language is
>> easy. I don't learn languages for immediate commercial benefit. I'm
>> studying ML right now, and I haven't seen any ML jobs in the paper
>> -- my motive is to learn another way of looking at programming
>> problems.
> 
> When the learner has mastered the paradigms, they know that it is
> still better to solve a problem, if it's not too much extra work, with
> a language and libraries they know well than to learn a new language
> and libraries.

Yep (-; My main motivation is actually to learn so I can write ML code
in C++.
 
> If mastering a new language is easy for you, you must be a lot smarter
> than I am.  I started writing Python programs regularly a year and a
> half ago; it took six to nine months before I stopped doing things in
> Perl when I was in a hurry.  In Python, I had to look everything up in
> the manual; in Perl, I knew how to do things.

Took me 6 months to go from a Perl programmer to a C++ programmer.  But
I was able to do *something* useful in a much shorter time frame, it's
just that I was slow, always looking at the book, etc. There are still 
some things I do in Perl, because perl really is just better for those 
things. 

In any case, if I can pick up another language in 6 months, I don't really
care what programming languages are used in industry. I suppose the fact
that it takes this long to become proficient would be a reason to learn 
some skills that are marketable enough that they won't be worthless in 
6 months (-;

-- 
Donovan