What python can NOT do?

John Nagle nagle at animats.com
Sat Aug 29 15:46:52 EDT 2009


qwe rty wrote:
> i know that an interpreted language like python can't be used to make
> an operating system or system drivers.
> 
> what else can NOT be done in python? what are the limitations of the
> language?

    Speed, basically.  CPython is on the slow side.  This is not
inherent in the language; it's an implementation problem.
The Shed Skin compiler is approaching C speeds,
but you have to accept some modest restrictions on run-time dynamism.

    Also, CPython does not use multiple processors well.  In fact,
multiple cores make CPython performance worse.  (There's a long
analysis of this that's been discussed here recently.)

    Personally, I consider Python to be a good language held back by
too-close ties to a naive interpreter implementation and the lack
of a formal standard for the language.

					John Nagle



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