OT: Code Examples

[Richard Dobson]

On 01/03/2011 08:43, Erik de Castro Lopo wrote:
> Fred Marshall wrote:
>
>> I'm interested in developing Python-based programs, including an
>> engineering app. ... re-writing from Fortran and C versions.  One of the
>> objectives would to be make reasonable use of the available structure
>> (objects, etc.).  So, I'd like to read a couple of good, simple
>> scientific-oriented programs that do that kind of thing.
>
> Why Python? I really can't understand the rush of every man and
> his dog to Python.
>
> Its not that I'm a stick in the mud stuck with C and C++, rather
> that I used Python for a number of years from 1998 to 2004 and
> rejected it in favour of strict statically typed functional
> langauges like Ocaml and Haskell.
>

My understanding is/was that Guido originally proposed Python as the 
replacement for BASIC; i.e. to be the new first language students at 
school would be exposed to. So rather than compare it to C and C++, I 
suppose one should, strategically speaking, compare it to Visual Basic 
and/or Java.

The other aspect is purely pragmatic - it has bindings for tk, MIDI and 
audio (and of course Csound as you know), which adds up to a fairly 
hefty scripting package complete with GUI design options - great for 
"knocking up stuff quickly". But - I am ~still~ caught out by the 
semantic significance of indenting. Looks OK enough on paper, but doing 
it interactively is another matter.


Richard Dobson