[Tutor] Python Advocacy

[Sheila King]

On Fri, 13 Apr 2001 23:02:58 -0700 (PDT), Deirdre Saoirse
<deirdre@deirdre.net>  wrote about Re: [Tutor] Python Advocacy:

:However, python is byte compiled, which may offer speed
:advantages. However, in general, if you're looking for speed, you wouldn't
:be using perl either.

I've been sharing the comments I've received to this post (some were sent by
private e-mail, some came from comp.lang.python).

In response to Deidre's remarks above, someone responded:

PK> How Python being compiled to bytecodes would give it a speed advantage
over Perl, which is
PK> also compiled to "bytecodes" which are then interpreted, is beyond me.

I just am not qualified to respond to these types of remarks. Is anyone here
game?

He further states:

PK> Speed is often not a BIG issue: if a script in Perl takes 1 minute and in
Python
PK>it took 1 and a half minutes, that's really not going to be an issue most
of the time. If a Perl
PK> script that runs in 1 minute takes 20 minutes in Python, that may well be
an issue: and it's a
PK> possibility too. http://home.hiwaay.net/~gbacon/py-vs-pl.html (It's from
1995: I assume Python
PK> has gotten considerably faster since then. The point is that it most
certainly COULD be that
PK> scale of difference, not that it IS.)

Then he proposes a challenge: Some task, where the Perl fans will write their
idiomatic solution, and the Python fans (me? I don't know that there is anyone
else there), will write their solution. And then they'll benchmark it.

--
Sheila King
http://www.thinkspot.net/sheila/
http://www.k12groups.org/