windev vs python SOS

[Scott David Daniels]

stéphane bard wrote:
> hello, my boss ask me to prefer windev to python.
> I have to argue
> 
>  - python work on multiple platform (linux, mac, windows)
>     A good point but it didn't interest him. Because
>     we want to choose a language for prototyping.
>     So multi platform is not enough.
> 
>  - python and windev are fast to develop
> 
>  - windev as a good IDE, python? boa-constructor is ok with wxpython
> 
>  - python is open source (that's not an argument for my boss, sorry 
> it's     a boss ...)
> 
> any idea for a strong argument ?

Well, this seems to me like a "Is it faster to New York, or by train"
kind of question.  "WinDev" is not a language, Python is.  "WinDev" is a
tool which includes a language.  At least make sure you are comparing
similar things ("Python and the WinDev language" or "Komodo and WinDev"
or "Idle and WinDev").

Note, I have never been successful with explaining this to any of my
employers that didn't just trust me on these decisions.  I have a nasty
habit of saying things like:
     "'Visual Basic' is not a language; 'Visual Basic 5.0' is a language
     with a vague similarity to the language 'Visual Basic 6.0'."
and:
     "SQL is not a language; it is (at best) a family of languages."

While these statements do mean something to experienced programmers,
they seem to contradict everything a power-point wielding IT executive
who understands everything "from a 5000 foot point of view" knows to
be true.  I really wish I knew how to explain these things politically.

--Scott David Daniels
scott.daniels at acm.org