j2ee vs. python (and what our evil competitors are saying about python)

[Paul Rubin]

curt at journyx.com (curt finch) writes:
> Python is often used as pseudocode to conduct rapid development. Its
> major users are web sites that do not reuse code and often conduct
> “throw away” development to meet internet development time
> tables. It is a very new language and has very little support compared
> to the Java development community. It is also not J2EE compliant.

Above is FUD though not being J2EE complaint is true (and a virtue)

> Platform Drawbacks
> As a new relatively untested development platform in the licensed
> software community, Python has certain deficiencies with which all
> users and developers should be aware.

As if J2EE has been around since forever?  FUD.

>  Issues and concerns 
>  
>  ·         No integrated GUI (Graphic user interface) support.

Somewhat true

> ·         No compiler to the native code.

Definitely true and a deficiency that should be corrected sooner or later.

> ·         No automatic garbage collection.

False for most practical purposes

> ·         Does not have vast number of libraries as that of Java,
> Perl, C++; etc.

True

> ·         Since Python is an interpreted language, it requires
> frequent run-time checks and thus does not provide the speed,
> performance and efficiency of compiled languages like Java, Perl and
> C++, which is a major issue.

Non-sequitur.  Python needs runtime checks because of its dynamic
typing.  However it should still be possible to compile Python.

> ·         Python does not provide multiple ways to perform tasks as do
> most other languages.

False and a bizarre claim.

> ·         It takes a lot of time for Python to adjust to the
> indentation style of the structuring code.

False.  It is a little disconcerting at first but most people get used
to it pretty fast.

> ·         Since Python is relatively a new language, there are only a
> few resources available for information on its latest developments.

Semi-true, but in practice the resources are good enough.

> ·         Limited documentation- only two English language books exist
> which provide tutorials or a library reference for Python.

Not true any longer.

> ·         The language is restricted to fewer code modules.

Incomprehensible.

> ·         Lacks native threading capabilities.

True.  There's a threading module that's similar to java threads, but
there's no built-in language support like java's synchronized classes.


> ·         Lacks basic tools such as integrated source level debuggers.

There are some proprietary ones that I haven't tried.  There's a free
one (IDLE) that's not very impressive.  OTOH, Java's debugging support
isn't so great either.

> ·         No packaging methods for software distribution.

False.

> ·         Lacks tools to solve typographical and type mismatch classes
> of errors.

Not too big a problem in practice.

> ·         Python cannot write docstrings in C++.

Huh?  J2EE can't either.  Why is this a problem for either?

> ·         Python is difficult to read.

FUD.  Java is worse.

> ·         Dynamic loading is not available on all systems, requiring
> that a developer use static loading.

Huh?  Same is true for Java.  Python can always load Python modules
(similar to Java class loader).  Loading native modules (like Java JNI)
dynamically isn't always possible, just like with Java.