Python vs Ruby

[Alex Martelli]

Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org> wrote:

> > Every line = more labour for the developer = more cost and time.
> > Every line = more places for bugs to exist = more cost and time.
> 
> There were studies done in the 70s that showed that programmers
> produced the same number of debugged lines of code a day no matter
> what language they used. So a language that lets you build the same
> program with fewer lines of code will let you build the program in
> less time.

Of course, these results only apply where the "complexity" (e.g., number
of operators, for example) in a single line of code is constant.  There
is no complexity advantage to wrapping up code to take fewer LINES, as
such -- e.g., in Python:

for item in sequence: blaap(item)

or

for item in sequence:
    blaap(item)

are EXACTLY as easy (or hard) to write, maintain, and document -- it's
totally irrelevant that the number of lines of code has "doubled" in the
second (more standard) layout of the code!-)

This effect is even more pronounced in languages which allow or
encourage more extreme variation in "packing" of code over lines; e.g.,
C, where

for(x=0; x<23; x++) { a=seq[x]; zap(a); blup(a); flep(a); }

and

for(x=0;
     x<23;
     x++)
  { 
    a=seq[x]; 
    zap(a);
    blup(a);
    flep(a);
  }

are both commonly used styles -- the order of magnitude difference in
lines of code is totally "illusory".


Alex