Python vs. C++ Builder - speed of development

[Andy Freeman]

"Brandon Van Every" <vanevery at 3DProgrammer.com> wrote in message news:<KxD_9.876$ek4.87836 at newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
> Andy Freeman wrote:
> > The point has been clear for some time.  The problem is that the
> > supporting
> > evidence seems to be "I think".  Meanwhile, the folks saying that the
> > point is wrong have actual relevant experience.
> 
> I don't have the Python experience.  I do have the C++ experience.  You
> guys' talk of the horror and gloom and doom of C++ sounds like another
> planet to me.  So clearly I'm having some kind of experience in C++ that you
> are not having.

Why "clearly"?

A far more likely alternative is that our experience with Python showed
us that what we thought was okay/good/great in C/C++ was not nearly as good
as is possible.  If you don't know anything else, you can't really say
whether what you know is good/bad.

> What it sounds like, is you guys blow your legs off with
> all the fancy C++ stuff,

Based on what?

> because you're in group environments where people
> don't know how to Keep It Simple Stupid.

Actually, "as simple as is appropriate" is better than "as simple as
possible".  C/C++ favors the latter and punishes the former.

L. Creighton has written about a colleague who programs in Python at
400 words/minute.  Maybe he's a mutant.  Eric Raymond wrote that he
was writing working Python as fast as he could type within hours of
opening a book.  Maybe that was due to his expertise in the domain.
I'm not famous, but I had the same experience in a domain that I
didn't know.  I don't have an excuse.

At some point, you're going to have to stop inventing data that might
support your theory and come up with a theory that is consistent with
the actual data.

If you're working in a domain where you're not spending much time
programming, a better programming language/environment/whatever can't
make any difference.  However, many of us don't have that luxury.
When we can work in Python instead of C/C++, we're better off.