Python article in Free Software Magazine

[Ernst Noch]

Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 06:09:14 -0500, Dan Sommers wrote:
> 
> 
>>On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 18:06:10 +1100,
>>Steven D'Aprano <steve at REMOVETHIScyber.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I don't want to nit-pick all my way through the article, which is very
>>>decent and is worth reading, but I will say one more thing: you
>>>describe Python as "an expressive, interpreted language" ...
>>
>>So does <http://www.python.org/doc/Summary.html>.
> 
> 
> Then it is time it stopped.
> 
> In fairness, from a technical perspective, describing Python as
> interpreted is not wrong -- as I've pointed out, machine code is
> interpreted too -- but neither does it give the correct impression.
> Many people have argued that the terms interpreted and compiled are no
> longer meaningful in this day and age. I wouldn't go that far, but given
> the negative connotations of "interpreted" I think it is both better and
> more accurate to emphasis the fact that Python code is byte-code compiled
> and only use the I-word when discussing Python's interactive environment
> and eval/exec. If I could think of another word for interpreter, I would
> use it even then.
> 
> People who are smart and care about correctness -- the "reality-based
> community" -- often don't realise just how many decisions are made on the
> basis of unfacts like "everybody knows interpreted languages are slow and
> inefficient, that's what my professor told me when I did a semester of C
> in 1982, we better stick to Java or .Net".
> 

Right on. Here's a tongue-in-cheek proposal for the python.org homepage 
to describe a combination of python, twisted and zope or something similar.
It yields a 10 on the buzzword meter, but is unfortunately blatantly stolen:

"""
Today, more and more developers want to write distributed transactional 
applications for the enterprise and leverage the speed, security, and 
reliability of server-side technology. If you are already working in 
this area, you know that in today's fast-moving and demanding world of 
e-commerce and information technology, enterprise applications have to 
be designed, built, and produced for less money, faster, and with fewer 
resources than ever before.

To reduce costs and fast-track enterprise application design and 
development, the Python Platform Enterprise Edition technology provides 
a component-based approach to the design, development, assembly, and 
deployment of enterprise applications. The Python Enterprise platform 
gives you a multitiered distributed application model, the ability to 
reuse components, a unified security model, and flexible transaction 
control. Not only can you deliver innovative customer solutions to 
market faster than ever, but your platform-independent Python 
component-based solutions are not tied to the products and APIs of any 
one vendor.

"""