Open Question - I'm a complete novice in programming so please bear with me...Is python equivalent to C, C++ and java combined?

[Steve Hayes]

On Sat, 11 Jan 2014 10:45:53 -0500, Roy Smith <roy at panix.com> wrote:

>In article <18b67e59-39d1-41e2-8977-b1c449b132e7 at googlegroups.com>,
> pintreo mardi <bigearl497 at outlook.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi, I've just begun to learn programming, I have an open question for the 
>> group:
>> Is the Python language an all in one computer language which could replace C, 
>> C++, Java etc.. I only ask becuase I am starting off with python and I want 
>> to learn everything in basic and advanced programming with python itself...So 
>> any advice and suggestions would be more than welcome.
>> Thanks!!
>
>That's a really hard question to answer, or at least to answer well.
>
>At a theoretical level, when you ask, "Is Python equivalent to C, C++ 
>and Java", the answer is "yes".  In computer science, programming 
>languages are classified by whether they are "Turing Complete" or not 
>(google that for more info).  In theory, any Turing Complete language is 
>capable of writing all programs which can be written in any other Turing 
>Complete language.  All of the languages you mention are Turing 
>Complete, so, theoretically, they are all equivalent.
>
>But, at a more practical level, some languages are easier to learn, some 
>run faster, some are more portable, some are more convenient to use, 
>etc.  If I had to rank the languages you mention by a few categories, 
>I'd say something like:
>

I think the significant thing is that some languages are easier to use for
some things than for others. Though you can use any language to write any kind
of program in theory, in practice some languages are designed to write certain
kinds of programs more easily and more quickly -- Prolog for AI programs, for
example.

So the question is, which kinds of programs is Python best for?

I'm a novice at it, so it's a question that concerns me. From what I've heard
and read, it seems to be a fairly good general-purpose language, and it seems
to be most used for writing web applications (though that is not something I
am particularly interested in). 


-- 
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web:  http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk