Switch from perl to python?

[Carl Banks]

Andrew Dalke wrote:
> Carl Banks wrote:
>> Of course [python] was all objects, but that didn't mean it supported object
>> oriented programming.  If you wanted to create your own type of
>> object, you couldn't do it (unless you wanted to write it in C), until
>> the class statement came along.  If someone had asked, "Can I do
>> object-oriented programming in Python?" before the class statement
>> existed, the correct answer would have been "No."
> 
> And since the 'class' statement was in Python from its first release,
> doesn't that mean it was object oriented?  Or rather, when do you think
> 'class' was added to Python?
> 
> FYI, here's the earliest blurb I could find for Python, posted
> 13 Aug 1991 and titled "Beta testers wanted for Python 0.9.2"
> 
> Guido van Rossum (guido at cwi.nl):
> ] Promised Python blurb:
> ]
> ] Python is an interpreted prototyping language, incorporating modules,
> ] exceptions, dynamic typing, very high level dynamic data types, and
>                                                                   ^^^
> ] classes.  Python combines remarkable power with very clear syntax.  It
>   ^^^^^^^
> ] has interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to
> ] various window systems, and is extensible in C.  It is also usable as
> ] an extension language for applications that need a programmable
> ] interface.
> 
> You could argue that you couldn't have classes in the (unreleased)
> Python before the class statement, but then I could argue you couldn't
> program in Java before it was able to compile.  (Or some similarly daft
> statement.)
> 
> > But, the fact that Python was all objects, and the object paradigm
> > adhered to good programming and OO principles, Python was able to add
> > support for OOP rather seamlessly.
> 
> "was able to add"?  And when was that?  After the first release?  I
> don't think so, though I am willing to be proved wrong concerning some
> of the early history of Python.

Thank you for correcting my misconception.  I apologize to the members
of this newsgroup and/or mailing list for trying to be a voice of
authority for something I wasn't sure about.


-- 
CARL BANKS