[Tutor] following on

[Steve Willoughby]

On Mon, Feb 18, 2013 at 07:01:02PM +0000, Matthew Ngaha wrote:
> >> understanding of how everything works.
> >
> > Use it., Experiment with it. Break it.
> > Thats the best way. Read the source code its all available in
> > Python or C.
> >
> 
> Hey can you please tell me which source code youre referring too? The
> initial files that come with Python? also the C code, where can i
> locate this? is C something worth learning? why is Python code
> available in C?

C is definitely worth learning.  So is LISP.  And a handful of other
languages we could enumerate.  It's worth learning if it adds something
useful to your understanding of how computers operate on the instructions you
give them, or if it changes your approach to creating software in a fundamental
way.  Actually using those languages in daily life is not the point.

C, however, is still very useful in a number of situations.  Python programmers
can get leverage from its strengths by--for example--writing performance-critical
modules in C and then calling them from their Python programs.

Python itself (well, the standard implementation of it anyway) is written in C.
It has to be written in something that ultimately compiles down to the machine
language which the computer actually uses.  That C code interprets your Python
code so you have a much nicer, high-level programming environment to work with.
But the computer itself doesn't directly understand Python.

> yes i will try not to reinvent the wheel, a lot of tutorials ive read
> seem to always point this out. Just out of curiousity what is a bag,
> stack or circular list? what is needed to create something like this?
> i sort of heard about a stack its a C/C++ thing i think?

None of these are C/C++ things.  They are basic building-blocks of Computer
Science and data structures you'll use regardless of language.  I'd really
recommend investing some time reading up on these and other fundamental
data structures.
-- 
Steve Willoughby    |  Using billion-dollar satellites
steve at alchemy.com   |  to hunt for Tupperware.