Python scales new heights in language popularity [For Programming Techies Only]

InfoWorld ^ | 12/08/2015 | Paul Krill

[wideminded]

Java and Python are used to make Minecraft mods.

I've been trying to think of something that might get my son to try programming. Thanks.

[Dalberg-Acton]

How about “Oak”?

[so_real]

Python is nice and quick to bash something out ...

I see what you did there ... intentional?

[Quick Shot]

WHERE’S FORTRAN???
Showing my age.

[amorphous]

There are a number of graphical interfaces for python. I created a blackjack simulator for testing different bj strategies and have played with image recognition applications built with python. Python doesn't and never will have the power of C++ for such, but it's easier/faster to go from an idea to a working application, or for use where maximum efficient processing isn't an issue.

Lots of tutorials on Youtube, and the price is right for everything you need to learn/work with Python or C/C++.

And having worked with propriety OS/Programming languages in the past, I place high priority on a OS/language which is open source. I mostly program by hand and don't really care to use IDEs that generate code based on templates/GUI, etc - mostly because I don't like to spend time learning someone else's way of doing something only to wind up with a mass of bloated code.

It's faster, easier to just go grab a section of my own code for something I've built and modify it to meet a current need/application. I've built many websites and desktop applications that interacted with SQL backends, including Oracle. The time spent solving some proprietary issue/quirk exceeds the time saved by using their tools which generate the code for you and limit your creativity.

Maybe that's what I dislike most - not being able to do it my way. :-)

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

My way is best!!! Sounds pretty much like yours. But Mine is better than yours.

[SpaceBar]

I resisted Python for years. Something about using indentation in place of curly braces rubs every old school c/c++ programmer the wrong way. I even had a decade-long love affair with Tcl/Tk. A few years ago, I decided to bite the bullet, learn Python, and use it for a medium sized project. I for one am now completely sold on Python for some tasks, and general purpose programming. Prototyping is almost effortless, taking a fraction of the time it used to. Anything that requires speed can be cythonized, or rewritten back in c once the proof of concept is successful. BTW the perl comment upthread had me really laughing out loud. Perl is for masochists, period.

[amorphous]

Lol! The proof is in the execution! But I'm not adverse to learning a better way of doing something.

Comparing Python to Other Languages

https://bjpelc.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/yet-another-language-speed-test-counting-primes-c-c-java-javascript-php-python-and-ruby-2/

[Lazamataz]

Sexy thread.

[Still Thinking]

Not by design, but I caught the pun even before I posted, and left it because I liked it!

[Allen In Texas Hill Country]

“Give me a real programming language.”
IBM’s Basic Assembly Language (BAL)?
****************************************

Make that Autocoder!!

[amorphous]

Perl is for masochists, period.

You haven't lived until you've consoled a Perl programmer who loses it and starts crying like a baby.

[Allen In Texas Hill Country]

“Give me a real programming language.”
IBM’s Basic Assembly Language (BAL)?
****************************************
Make that Autocoder!!
****************************************
Oops, make that SOAP!!!!

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

You always have to balance development time and run time.

You can always prototype in python, and pass it along to someone else to do in C or C++ if performance needs require. I hate doing things twice.

[SpaceBar]

I think one of the reasons Python is so successful is because it doesn't feel like someone’s PhD thesis language that includes the kitchen sink. Python is a practical language and was obviously designed for getting things done, not impressing your compsci prof with theoretical completeness or elegance.

[wideminded]

How about "Oak"?

I had to look that up. Not very inspiring, but better than "Java".

It's already annoying that coffee addicts refer to coffee as "Java", but then they have to name a programming language the same thing and actually make a logo for it depicting a steaming cup of coffee. And then it becomes ubiquitous so you can't avoid hearing about it all the time and seeing that logo and you might actually have to use it to write programs.

[SpaceBar]

Java actually is a very good language within the narrow paradigm it was designed for (platform independent, web aware apps). I find it difficult since I have problems remembering large library source trees, and some of the common paradigms seem overly complex. Nesting class methods five levels deep in a peculiar Case sensitive verbose dotted notation that's impossible to memorize for casual use ain't my idea of fun.

[no-s]

I'm doing all my work in Racket these days.

Rly? In AZ? Where? That sounds like a dream job for me...

[amorphous]

Python is indeed powerful tool for "getting something done", as you said - it's a hacker's best friend too, and its great for "tinkering", which is what I do a lot of these days. It's a programmer's "vise-grips".

And there are lots and lots of open source Python code already available for doing almost anything that needs doing, from resizing photos, importing and working with data files, or even analyzing negative comments about Obama on twitter.

[SpaceBar]

I generally don’t ‘like’ programming languages. I tolerate them, and learn to work within their peculiar confines. Python I actually like.