up to date books?

[Magnus Lycka]

John Salerno wrote:
> Just one more quick question: I'm basically learning programming for 
> fun, and I'm concentrating on C# right now. Python seems interesting, 
> but I was wondering if I should even bother. Would it supplement C# in 
> any way, or can C# do everything Python can?

Python is an excellent tool in any programmers toolbox. No one language
is ideal for every task, but Python very often provides a more rapid
solution to your problem than other languages do. Particularly for small
problems. It's common to use Python to solve a problem in 3 minutes that
would take 10 or 30 minutes to solve in some other way. It's also great
for building something in 3 man-months instead of 3 man-years, but you
need more time to verify that claim! ;^)

If you need a GUI for some simple task, it might often be more
convenient to use something like Excel or VB. I haven't used MS's C#
environment, so I can't compare with that, but it's often just a bad
habit to build captive user interfaces for every task we want to solve.
It certainly makes it much more difficult to make modular and reusable
software. Most Python programs I write work both as standalone programs
and as modules that other programs can use. This versatility basically
costs one line of code.

If I was a professional C# developer, I'm pretty sure I'd use Python
quite a bit. As a professional C++ programmer and database developer,
I've used Python to manage tests, find and repair broken data in
mission critical production systems, automate database administration
tasks such as upgrading multiple databases, extracting, converting and
copying data, create database reports, post-process generated source
code, analyze large software systems and databases etc etc.

Actually, during seven years as an independent consultant, I found good
use for Python with every client.