[Fwd: Re: [Uuu-devel] languages] <-- Why Python

[Ville Vainio]

>>>>> "Donn" == Donn Cave <donn at drizzle.com> writes:

    Donn> I don't know what the Windows version is like, but for all
    Donn> the UNIX shell's weaknesses, it's very well suited to its
    Donn> role.  The Plan 9

I don't know about that - I don't see anything in shell that couldn't
be done better in Python (well, launching subshells perhaps, and the
smaller size == faster launch). The Windows incarnation is obviously
so horrible that it hardly deserves mention, but the scripts done with
unix shell also always have this "hackish" flavour.

(I'm aware that this is an unpopular opinion that is likely to collect
some flames, but some people never learn ;-).


    Donn> shell (rc) is similar with much improved syntax, and has a
    Donn> distant relative "es" that I think is the closest thing I've
    Donn> ever seen to a 1st class language that works as a shell

I assume you've tried IPython ('ipython -p pysh')? I just apt-getted
es and it seems to be like ipython, only for scheme.

    Donn> Well, honestly I think that's stretching it.  Your order
    Donn> issue here seems to apply only to operators, and they don't
    Donn> really figure that heavily in the kinds of things we
    Donn> normally do with the OS.  The only

I think they do - summing sets of files, adding extensions to
filenames, etc. 

    Donn> Now, we Python users know very well that's not true, Python's as clear
    Donn> as could be.  But theoretically, if you wanted to talk about order
    Donn> issues, for example ... is it really easier to understand when a language
    Donn> sometimes expresses a function f over x and y this way
    Donn> f(x, y)
    Donn> sometimes this way (+ is a function, really)
    Donn> x f y
    Donn> and sometimes this way
    Donn> x.f(y)
    Donn> ?

Yes - operators like + and - are very intuitive to everybody. Having
only one way to call functions is more orthogonal and "cleaner" in a
theoretical sense, but noi in practical sense.

    Donn> I don't know, I'm just thinking that while Python's notation
    Donn> might be just fine for people who've gotten here the way
    Donn> most of us have, it's not obvious from this that it's just
    Donn> fine 4 everyone.

Perhaps not for everyone but for the majority I guess the python
notation would be more suitable.

-- 
Ville Vainio   http://tinyurl.com/2prnb