python scalability

[Dan Stromberg]

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:32:38 +1200, Tim Mitchell wrote:

> Hi All,
> 
> I work on a desktop application that has been developed using python and
> GTK (see www.leapfrog3d.com).  We have around 150k lines of python code
> (and 200k+ lines of C).  We also have a new project manager with a C#
> background who has deep concerns about the scalability of python as our
> code base continues to grow and we are looking at introducing more
> products.  I am looking for examples of other people like us (who write
> desktop apps in python) with code bases of a similar size who I can
> point to (and even better talk to) to help convince him that python is
> scalable to 300+ lines of code and beyond.  I have looked at the python
> success stories page and haven't come up with anyone quite like us. One
> of my project managers questions is: "Are we the only company in the
> world with this kind and size of project?" I want to say no, but am
> having trouble convincing myself, let alone him.
> 
> If you are involved in this kind of thing please get in touch with me.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tim

It sounds less like concerns about python, and more about "nobody ever 
got fired for going microsoft" (except they have).

You might focus not just on large python projects, but also major 
companies with substantial commitments to python.

That said, not all python implementations scale that well with 
multithreading.  It sounds like multithreaded apps are fine for single 
CPU machines, and fine on multi-CPU boxes if the app is more I/O bound 
than CPU bound - but that's all a matter of implementation, not language 
definition, and some python implementations purportedly do well anyway.

It might not hurt to mention IronPython either, since it's a python from 
microsoft.