Why learn Python ??

[John J. Lee]

"Derek" <none at none.com> writes:

> "John J. Lee" wrote:
[...]
> > for the
> > great majority of projects, optimisation does not require
> > implementation of the *entire* system in a language like
> > C++.  The sum of C++ and Python is greater than the parts.
> 
> Python and C++ can also be a bigger mess than sum of either part.
> Take your pick.

Not entirely sure what you mean, so I'll try and restate it:

You're saying that the C++ code for a Python extension is uglier than
the equivalent C++ code you'd write for a pure-C++ solution, where the
C++ code in question is that used to solve the *small part* of the
*whole* problem that you've farmed out to C++.  Right?

Actually, I think that's only true if you're writing wrappers in C on
the C API level.  Leaving that important point aside, though, the
choice we're discussing here is between:

1. Most code in Python, plus small amount (say 10 percent) of C/C++
   code plus ugly code to wrap it (or the latter two mixed up
   together, if you prefer).

2. All code in C++.


For cases where it meets the performance requirements, 1 is preferable
to 2 because, even given an overhead of ugliness (which I dispute,
thanks to SWIG and Boost Python) in that 10 percent of the problem
recoded in C++, you make a saving on the other 90 percent that (far!)
more than compensates.  A ratio of 5-10 in terms of lines of code is
often quoted, and that ratio applies to 90% of the project.


John