Python vs .Net

[Peter Hansen]

Greg Brunet wrote:
> 
> "Peter Hansen" <peter at engcorp.com> wrote:
> > Given the loss in productivity involved with all those extra
> > keystrokes for the static typing information for the compiler, you
> > might reach a point where it is *less* effective overall to have the
> > static typing in place.  :-)
> 
> If things were that drastic - I would agree with you. The interesting
> thing is, even though I type in a few more keystrokes to define the
> variable types, I believe that I gain enormous benefits when I use the
> variables, or invoke functions & methods.  I tried to point this out in
> the Intellisense thread.  While I get some of this with Python, it's not
> nearly to the degree that is present with VB.  

Ah, if we expand this beyond error-detection to productivity 
improvements in actually typing the code, I would have to admit
the possibility that there could be significant advantages in the
way you describe.

I'm not *certain*, but I do get the feeling that with test-driven
development it's possible there is much less need for the kind of
coding where that actually helps.  I'm not saying it's necessarily
better, mind you, just that I don't recall missing this feature
lately, although I found it very helpful in Delphi and Java when
writing code (where I wrote code-and-fix mostly).

Since I'm "stuck" :-) with Python without the features you like,
I can't try your approach and compare my productivity.  Maybe,
therefore, once you've done a year of XP and Test-Driven Development,
with Python, you would let me know whether you still miss the 
code-completion features... ;-)

-Peter