Article of interest: Python pros/cons for the enterprise

[Larry Bugbee]

On Feb 21, 10:22 am, Nicola Musatti <nicola.musa... at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 21, 6:31 pm, Paul Boddie <p... at boddie.org.uk> wrote:
> >
> > The main reason why C++ has declined in usage is because almost
> > everything of practical value is optional.

No, disagree.

> The main reason why C++ has declined in usage is because it never got
> the kind of corporate marketing enjoyed by Java and C#.

I'm inclined to disagree for two reasons.  C++ is a very complex
language.  Java (and the later C#) less so.  Couple that with reduced
debugging time due to garbage collection and fewer pointer problems, a
lot of us decided a factor of 2x in personal productivity was worth
it.  Runtime was initially an impediment, and still is for desktop
applications, but the trade was worth it.

Corporate marketing, and corporate attention in general, saw to it
that Java was well equipped with libraries and frameworks addressing
enterprise application needs.  ...but the *big* reason Java won over C+
+ is because your application became stable sooner.  ...with arguably
fewer problems later.

And the migration to Python is due in large part because of an
additional factor of 3-4x in personal productivity (over Java).
Improvements in runtime performance wouldn't hurt, but for many
applications that's not an issue.  (If optional data typing were
offered, Python's penetration in the enterprise space would be even
higher, and I suspect there would be performance gains as well.)

Larry