Python less error-prone than Java

[Ilpo Nyyssönen]

Christoph Zwerschke <cito at online.de> writes:

> What's better about the Python version? First, it will operate on
> *any* sorted array, no matter which type the values have.
>
> But second, there is a hidden error in the Java version that the
> Python version does not have.

While I can see your point, I'd say you are totally in the wrong level
here.

With Java generics you can sort a list and still keeping the type of
the contents defined. This is makes the code less error-prone. But why
would you implement binary search as the standard library already has
it for both arrays and lists? This is one big thing that makes code
less error-prone: using existing well made libraries. You can find
binary search from python standard library too (but actually the API
in Java is a bit better, see the return values).

Well, you can say that the binary search is a good example and in real
code you would use the stuff from the libraries. I'd say it is not
good example: How often will you write such algorithms? Very rarely.

Integer overflows generally are not those errors you run into in
programs. The errors happening most often are from my point of view:

1. null pointer errors
2. wrong type (class cast in Java, some weird missing attribute in python)
3. array/list index out of bounds

First and third ones are the same in about every language. The second
one is one where the typing can make a difference. If in the code
level you know the type all the way, there is much less changes of it
being wrong. (The sad thing in the Java generics is that it is a
compile time only thing and that causes some really weird stuff, but
that is too off topic to here.)

In python passing sequences for a function and also from a function is
very easy. You can very easily pass a sequence as argument list. You
can also very easily return a sequence from the function and even
split it to variables directly. This is very powerful tool, but it has
a problem too: How can you change what you return without breaking the
callers? There are many cases where passing an object instead of a
sequence makes the code much easier to develop further.

What's the point? The point is that neither with Java or Python you
want to be doing things in the low level. You really want to be doing
stuff with objects and using existing libraries as much as possible. 
And in that level Java might be less error-prone as it does restrict
the ways you can shoot yourself more.

-- 
Ilpo Nyyssönen # biny # /* :-) */