A really bad idea.

[Erik Max Francis]

"Simon Wittber (Maptek)" wrote:

> I disagree. C is a very simple language. Because of its simplicity,
> one
> needs to write lots of C code to achieve complicated things. Python on
> the other hand achieves complicated things using minimal code (Imagine
> having to code a list slice in C).

The C language itself is a fairly straightforward language, but
summarizing that in eight pages does not do it much justice.  The
library is fairly large, however, and certainly deserves more than eight
pages.

C++, on the other hand, is quite a complicated language, and it has
downright huge library.  As a simple comparison, consider the C99
Standard has 516 pages, the first 163 of which describe the core
language (although the appendices cover a combination of the language
and the library); the C++97 standard has 715 pages, with the core
language description ending on page 310.  Oh, by the way, C++ contains
the entire C Standard Library within it, as well.

Condensing all that to 16 pages is, well, not going to do it much
justice.  I have serious doubts about the utility of a reference
claiming

> I doubt that the C / C++ reference
> includes examples on slicing lists and using dictionaries, whereas the
> Python reference would *have* to, as these constructs are integral to
> the language.

You keep glossing over the difference between C and C++, but they are
not the same thing, and in this instance the difference in complexity
and library size is essential.  I'm guessing you're not familiar with
the Standard C++ Library, which has the equivalent of all these things
and more.

Whether or not you think C and/or C++ is more or less complicated than
Python is really beside the point I was making, and that is simply this:
Comparing a Python reference of 120 or so pages to a "C/C++" reference
of 16 pages is comparing apples and oranges, and says absolutely nothing
about the relative size or complexity of any of these languages.

-- 
 Erik Max Francis / max at alcyone.com / http://www.alcyone.com/max/
 __ San Jose, CA, USA / 37 20 N 121 53 W / &tSftDotIotE
/  \ The basis of optimism is sheer terror.
\__/ Oscar Wilde
    CAGE / http://www.alcyone.com/pyos/cage/
 A cellular automaton simulation system in Python.