Python vs. C#

[Cliff Wells]

On Sun, 2003-08-10 at 13:55, Brandon J. Van Every wrote:
> Microsoft does almost all of its internal development in C# now.  It is not
> going away.

Using QBasic to develop the POSIX layer for Windows NT didn't stop that
language from disappearing ;)

> I'm beginning to think that within 5 years, no new applications will be
> written in C++.  People will still be using legacy C++ libraries, but all
> new development will be in higher level langauges.  

As much as I'd like to see that, I'm choking on my coffee.  You are
obviously painfully new to this industry.

> Java and C# are the obvious languages that are not going away. 
> Python?  What industrial entity is going to champion Python?  

Perhaps people who think for themselves and simply choose the best tool
don't need shiny brochures and a pat on the back from a salesman to feel
they've made a good choice.

> It takes a Sun, a Microsoft, or overwhelming utility to push a
> language.  For instance, Perl has become popular because
> it's overwhelmingly useful for sysadmin and web admin.  

So it takes marketing or usefulness for a language to be adopted? 
Versus what?  A mackerel and a tennis racket?  Do you work for Gartner? 
Most people look at things like past growth and market size to predict
future growth for a product.  You're starting to sound like your
research was done on page 3 of PC Magazine.

If you think it takes major marketing to push a language, let me ask you
this: what are you doing on this list?  No, really.  You couldn't
possibly have discovered Python without a major corporate advertising
campaign, so how did you find your way here?  It seems almost...
contradictory.

> But I am not seeing Python's overwhelming utility compared to other languages.  

Then perhaps you should spend less time trolling the newsgroups and more
time programming.

> You can do apps, you can do web admin, but most people are doing Java, C#, or Perl.  And
> unlike C++ they aren't bad languages, so Python is not offering an obvious "slam dunk" remedy.

Perl isn't a bad language?  Perl is a terrific tool but a terrible
language.  I could go on, but I think your own statements sum up your
abilities to make any sort of qualitative judgement regarding
programming languages.  No wonder you chose C++.


Regards,

-- 
Cliff Wells, Software Engineer
Logiplex Corporation (www.logiplex.net)
(503) 978-6726  (800) 735-0555