Dumb newbie back in shell

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

MartinRinehart at gmail.com a écrit :
> Not trying to write C, 

I meant "trying to use Python like it was C" - but I guess it doesn't 
matter that much !-)

> I'm trying to write Decaf, a language I've
> designed (see www.MartinRinehart.com for more) but which doesn't
> exist. Got to code the first bit in something. Later I can write Decaf
> in Decaf. Chose Python as it looked like a faster write (learning
> curve included) than C or C++.

Indeed.

> Python is commonly called a "scripting" language because of its use as
> one of the Ps in the LAMP stack.

Now that's a definition I never heard before !-)

> I'm using it as a general-purpose
> programming language with the neat feature of being able to write
> scripts in its own console.

Seriously, the Python shell is not meant to write serious code. I 
sometimes use it like a, well, shell (mostly to do quick maintenance on 
Zope apps - just like you'd fire a command-line SQL client to inspect 
and fix a problem on your favorite RDBMS), but the main use of it is 
still to quickly explore APIs, corner cases etc... Now perhaps I'm 
misunderstanding you, but your questions about module reloading are IMHO 
a sign your asking to much from the Python REPL.

Anyway, welcome on board !-)

Regards