Why should I switch to Python?

[Andrew Dalke]

Grant Griffin wrote:
>My complaint with Python as a learning language is that it spoils you.
>Just as it's hard to convice BASIC users of the need to declare
>variables in C,
[...]

Getting off-topic - The last time I did BASIC was in '92 with
QBasic.  (An algorithm and GUI for finding the crystal cell shape
and size from x-ray powder diffraction images, if you have to ask :) .
I vaguely recall new-fangled syntax using % or some other characters
used to specify the data type.  Or maybe it was a DIM statement?
(Searching ... ah-ha! Both are right:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/5707/qbasic.html )

Anyway, I used them because it gave a performance advantage.

I assume VB has similar syntax?  Then explaining declarations
to BASIC programmers these days should be straight-forward; just
say C always expects you want performance so you always have to
state the type, but C only has one way to do that.

Now I'm recalling fondly all those old BASIC programs I wrote.
Mmmmm, BASIC programming.

                    Andrew
                    dalke at acm.org