Typing system vs. Java

[Christopher Barber]

anamax at earthlink.net (Andy Freeman) writes:

> Christopher Barber <cbarber at curl.com> wrote in message 
> > You didn't respond to my comments on potential for performance gains.  
> > Can I assume that I scored a point?  ;-)
> 
> Only if you've already exhausted algorithm/architecture/infrastructure
> improvements and "decrease run-time at any cost" really is the primary
> consideration.

It could be pretty expensive to move all of your code to a faster language if
you discover that Python is not good enough.  Sometimes you can write C
extensions for the slow parts, but in some cases you will have to start over.
 
> I figure that there are about five applications in the world that qualify,
> and they're written in assembler.  (The other candidates have migrated
> to hardware.)  They, and their techniques, are less relevant to most
> of us than F1 racecars.

Don't be silly.  Try to write a 3D game entirely in Python without using any
extensions.  You won't stand a chance.  Once you have to resort to extensions,
you aren't talking about Python anymore but C.

Don't get me wrong, Python is a great language and is useful for many types of
applications, but it is ridiculous to say that there aren't a significant
number of applications for which it does not have the required performance.

- Christopher