handling return codes from CTYPES

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, Jan 22, 2013 at 7:02 PM, Steve Simmons <square.steve at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks also for the clarification on discarding objects and Garbage
> Collection.  Looks like I'll have to turn a large chunk of my previous
> understanding of (mainframe) languages 'inside out'.
>
> I'm just wondering how often I'll have to chant "it isn't a variable, it's a
> name bound to an object" before I can write a chunk of code without spending
> ages pondering why it isn't working.
>
> I already like Python for its clean design but I think it'll be a while
> before I love it completely.

Yeah, it takes some getting used to. I've spent the past couple of
decades writing imperative code with strict declarations and fairly
close to the metal, and I still have one C++ module at work - but more
and more, I'm pushing to write code in a modern high-level language
like Python, where memory management isn't my problem, and failings in
the code result in easily-readable (and catchable!) exceptions. I
often fire up gdb for the C++ code at work, but usually a Python or
Pike exception traceback is enough on its own.

Learning curve, rewarded with immensely easier work. So many things
are like that; life is all about figuring out which ones are worth the
curve's effort.

ChrisA