[Tutor] Re: Python vs. C

[Andrei]

Peter Jakubowicz wrote on Tue, 06 Jan 2004 20:55:06 -0800:

> this because my Python programs are getting bigger, and occasionally I 
> wonder if I want to learn C too. Plus, I've gotten to like programming 

Coming from Delphi, I thought I wanted to learn something lower-level and
more widespread. After doing a C tutorial, I ended up with Python which is
higher level and less widespread than Delphi (I think) - and stuck with it
:). Turns out I was actually looking for a language which is more
productive than Delphi and C is virtually contraproductive from my POV (my
taste doesn't include writing device drivers and OS kernels, so I'm OK
without C). BTW, a tiny little bit of C did stick around in my head and at
one point it proved to be handy, when I compiled GnuPlot on Windows and had
to modify a line of code or so :).

> enough that I learning another language would be fun. Or maybe I should 

Give it a go. If you don't like it, it won't cost you a lot, just a few
hours (or days) of wasted time. I see you're on Windows, so you can get a
very nice free IDE for C called Dev-C++ (look on Sourceforge). I'd also be
tempted to recommend Delphi (it's fast like C and low-level compared to
Python - it has static typing, machine-code compilation, pointers, OOP,
everything; Object Pascal doesn't *force* you to go extremely low level
like C does, but you can if you want to; OP is less hairy than C/C++ and
Delphi has extremely comfortable GUI development), but the free versions of
it are nowadays rather hard to find. Oh, and using Python for Delphi you
can use both at once! 
But either way, it's rather annoying if you're using such a low-level
language and you can't simply write MyList.sort() or MyDict['MyKey'].

> just work on making my Python code more efficient or whatever? Anyway, if 

Do you *need* the speed? If so, that's probably your best bet :).

-- 
Yours,

Andrei

=====
Mail address in header catches spam. Real contact info (decode with rot13):
cebwrpg5 at jnanqbb.ay. Fcnz-serr! Cyrnfr qb abg hfr va choyvp cbfgf. V ernq
gur yvfg, fb gurer'f ab arrq gb PP.