Python Speed Question and Opinion

[Peter Hickman]

Maboroshi wrote:
> Hi I am fairly new to programming but not as such that I am a total beginner
> 
> From what I understand C and C++ are faster languages than Python. Is this
> because of Pythons ability to operate on almost any operating system? Or is
> there many other reasons why?

Although code written in C and C++ may run faster that is rarely the main issue, 
you can *write* the code a lot faster in python and have much smaller source 
files than in C / C++. Maintaining code written in python is also much easier as 
it is generally smaller and clearer. So updating and extending is easier than in 
C / C++.

However with pyhon if part of the code is too slow then you can look at coding 
just that part in C / C++. A very usfull feature should you need it.

> I understand there is ansi/iso C and C++ and that ANSI/ISO Code will work on
> any system

This is not always the case, they should be portable but in some cases it just 
doesn't work that way.

> Also from what I understand there are Interpreted and Compiled languages
> with Interpreted languages memory is used at runtime and Compiled languages
> the program is stored in memory.
> 
> Or is this wrong?

There are very few 'pure' interpreted languages. Most modern interpreted 
languages compile down to bytecode that is then run on a virtual machine. This 
allows for optimisations based on runtime usage ('hotspot' and 'jit' are 
keywords in this area) which can significantly reduce the performance gap. Tools 
like psyco are available.

> Python is an Interpreted Language, am I right? than wouldn't it be possible
> if there was OS specific Python distrubutions, that you could make Python a
> Compiled language
> 
> Or is this completely wrong?

The python executable (python.exe or whatever) is a compiled from C program. The 
programs that it runs are interpreted (actually compiled into bytecode and run 
on a vm).

If you want pure speed you need assembler! No ifs, ands or buts.