Python versus VB

[Martin Franklin]

On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 10:08, Mark Carter wrote:
> > > I am meeting with a potential client next week to
> > > discuss starting a new project.  His preference is for
> > > VB whereas I would prefer Python for obvious reasons ;-)
> 
> One might argue that clients should rarely be specifying how a problem
> is solved. On the other hand ... he who pays the piper. It might be an
> idea to ask the client *why* he thinks that VB is the solution. The
> chances are, it wont be an especially well-informed answer. If you can
> counter with some other argument (robustness, maintainability, cost,
> whatever), then you may be able to get away with using Python.
> 
> A couple of ohter points to remember: is the client from a big
> company, and does the product have to be installed on many machines?
> Big companies tend to have paranoid IT support staff, and may baulk at
> installing Python. Mind you, they'll also probably baulk at VB, too. I
> know, I have to do a lot of development in Excel, because we're "not
> allowed to install software".
> 
> If the software has to be installed on many machines, then you may
> find a VB app to be a better bet. It'll be more click-n-go.


If you use py2exe you get just as much click-n-go :-) and the client
could be convinced (lied to!) that the application was somehow 'native'
after all it's in a .exe file!


-- 
Martin Franklin <mfranklin1 at gatwick.westerngeco.slb.com>