Re: [MLUG] guess what

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

>Interesting.  I think of Perl, C++ and Java as having very different roles
>in computing.  Where does Python fit in?  Would it be more likely to do
>what Perl has been doing for people?
>  
>
Python, I think, most directly competes with Java. C/C++ are still 
generally going to be faster for low level stuff but Python is very easy 
to wrap around C code. A lot of large projects written in Perl should be 
rewritten in Python but those things should never have been written in 
Perl to begin with. Perl just isn't well suited to large complex 
projects. Python aims to be a high level, portable, object oriented 
language. Pretty much exactly what Java aims for but in general easier 
to use (no compiling steps needed), 100% opensource, and with a cleaner 
syntax. Java can be a little faster than Python in some cases but takes 
up much more system resources. Also Python encouranges the use of 
modules written in C as needed.. and with that Python is faster than Java.

>Side note:  With the work I do in genetics, we get a lot of Perl and a lot
>of C or C++, sometimes some Pascal (not a good thing but a couple of top
>people happened to use Pascal).  Not much Java or Python yet, but it's
>just a matter of time for Python, I guess.
>  
>
Python I think would be good. Perl is good for short text-oriented 
scripts where as Python is better for actual application logic. It is, 
of course, possible to embed Perl inside Python in order to get the best 
of both worlds if needed. Overall though I doubt you'd need it unless 
you're doing some really twisted work with text. Python is much more 
maintainable than Perl, C, or C++. I can't even see using Pascal for 
anything these days. I really can't see using Java either. Java is big 
now but I don't see it having a real future unless Sun opensources it. 
Python and C# are going to eat away at it's market share from both ends.
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