[Tutor] Const on Python

[Alan Gauld]

> In commercial practice sometimes "political" considerations make for
> crazy decisions, e.g. witnessed by me:

> 1.) a new web service needs to be developed.
> 2.) the policy of the company is that all developers need to know C
++/Java.
> snipped... desire to use Python/Erlang
> 5.) The project lead makes him to do it in C++ anyway. Would make 
> the
> scheduling of the group way to complicated if you could not assign 
> any
> developer to every ticket coming in.
>
> That's the moment where you start scratching your head.

Actually I'm with the lead here.

The cost of developing a new feature is a tiny proportion of total
life cost of code - often only 5-10%. If Erlang is already being
used that might make some sense, but of the developers all know
Java/C++ then one of those makers more sense. If every
modification needs to wait for a Python/Erlang developer to
come free that would push the lifetime costs up dramatically.

Its not a matter of politics but of business and TCO.

I routinely build prototypes in Python, a few of which have been
"good enough" for the users, but nonetheless we have had
them rewritten in Java because thats what we use in house.
Nobody upgrades the Python version on the servers, only a
handfull of developers know Python. So it makes commecial
sense to rewrite the app in Java where anyone can fix/modify
it than have an app in Python than only a select few can
work on and costs a fortune in upgrades over the 10 years
or more the app may exist for.

Alan G