Python for air traffic control?

[Russ]

"Peter Milliken" <peter.milliken at gtech.com> wrote in message news:<9htgsb$ck3 at news1.gtech.com>...

> Perhaps if you are seriously looking into possible languages to use for
> writing an ATC then you might be better off looking for some research
> information about the relative merits of different languages rather than
> asking a fairly obvious question in a news group that will only be read by
> adherents of a particular language :-). I say "obvious" here because you
> will find only Python lovers here. I love Python but I wouldn't use it to
> write an ATC.

Perhaps I should clarify that I am not proposing to use Python for a
complete ATC system but rather for a relatively small, albeit key,
component of a very large system.

> The choice of languages for implementing various applications is sometimes
> extremely suspect. I suspect that often it comes down to something like one
> or more of the following reasons:
> 
> "I know X, it is a good language"
> "I can get programmers more easily in language X than language Y"
> "We currently have programmers who know language X"
> 
> I am not necessarily saying that choosing a language based upon the above
> reasons is wrong, but it is hardly approaching the problem from an
> engineering standpoint. There is literature available that compares the
> relative merits of languages. To make an informed decision you really should
> do some research and find out what information is available to help you make
> the decision. The more information the better informed the decision. I am
> sure as an aerospace engineer, you do studies into the various alternatives
> for your design, why should choosing a programming language be any
> different?

I agree. However, I wouldn't know where to start with the formal
literature, and even if I did I don't have enough time to pursue it in
depth. My management is already worried that I am even considering
Python (they'd never even heard of it), and they may well shoot it
down even if it's my choice. (You'd no doubt praise them for that. :-)

> > <cut>
> >
> > > Based upon Gerrit's observations, which I fully endorse, anybody who
>  doesn't
> > > use the most strongly typed language they can find for an application
>  like
> > > Air Traffic Control, has to put it mildly, rocks in their head :-).
> >
> > As I indicated in my original post, the lack of type checking does
> > concern me. However, as I wrote in a later post, I also suspect that
> > this concern is overblown. I am not a computer scientist or even a
> > full-time programmer, so I don't pretend to be an expert in this area.
> > I am an aerospace engineer, and I do some programming in support of my
> > own research (but I am a Python beginner).
> >
> 
> There are studies that indicate that productivity in strongly typed
> languages is higher (2:1 in one study I read - unfortunately, they are
> "thin" on the ground because you need two identical ability teams doing the
> same application in two different languages to get meaningful comparisions -
> but it has been done and that was the result) than loosely typed languages.

Let's cut right to the chase here. I like strong typing almost as much
as you do, but I don't understand why I can't get it in Python,
perhaps by specialized code-analysis tools. Is the problem just that
the development tools are underdeveloped, or is there a fundamental
technical reason that type-checking cannot be done? If it's the
former, then I suggest that the tools be given a very high priority.
If it's the latter, then perhaps type checking can be done under
certain reasonable restrictions. Whatever the case, I want to have my
cake and eat it too. :-)

<cut>
> PyChecker is still very imature and some things it will never (poor word to
> use, since if someone wants to put in the effort, nothing is impossible :-))
> be checked by it. It will only ever be an aid. The ability of Python to
> dynamically "change its behaviour on the fly" is one of its strengths but
> also a weakness from the point of view of ensuring correctness and
> reliability in such an application domain.

Do you think PyChecker could ever be sophisticated enough to do static
type checking?

> Well, if you need more information, email me directly Russ - I'm more than
> happy to help. The issue can be confusing with all of the Python lovers on
> the list :-)

Thanks.

Russ