I've been getting into python recently, and it's pretty fantastic in my opinion, but what makes it great? I mean really great? Why is it such a popular language? Is it the syntax, or is there something more behind it that I'm not seeing?
Given that you described it as a fantastic language it seems like you're not missing anything. But, yes, most of what is so great about Python is its simple syntax that makes it very easy to read and write. There is also a very clear and overarching design philosophy behind the language, which makes it very consistent, which in turn makes the language and its features easy to remember. The key part there being consistency, which the lack of is one of my biggest gripes with other languages.
Python is certainly not a prefect language, far from it, but it's one of the best around, and is easily my favourite.
For me it's how high level it is. I couldn't believe it did native arbitrary precision arithmetic. Couldn't believe how fast I could make games with it. How easily I could crush project euler problems with it. And like Diki said, how easy it was to remember. I constantly forget programming language syntax when I spend months/years away from it. With Python, if I forget anything, it comes back instantly with a superficial review.
I used to hate it simply because people were so zealoted about it and I'm an anti-zealot zealot. But then I got into it and I had to jump on the bandwagon.
∀x (∃e (e ∈ x ∧ ∀x ¬(x ∈ e)) ∨ ∃y ¬∃e (e ∈ x ∧ ¬∃z (z ∈ y ∧ z ∈ e ∧ ∀x ¬((x ∈ y ∧ x ∈ e) ∧ ¬(x = z)))))
At 4/24/14 04:01 AM, sharpnova wrote: For me it's how high level it is. I couldn't believe it did native arbitrary precision arithmetic. Couldn't believe how fast I could make games with it. How easily I could crush project euler problems with it. And like Diki said, how easy it was to remember. I constantly forget programming language syntax when I spend months/years away from it. With Python, if I forget anything, it comes back instantly with a superficial review.
I used to hate it simply because people were so zealoted about it and I'm an anti-zealot zealot. But then I got into it and I had to jump on the bandwagon.
You hipster! Haha but seriously, is there anything this language can't accomplish? Now that I'm looking into it I'd like to see size/speed/memory consumption/etc comparisons against other languages and python.
At 4/27/14 04:46 PM, coln wrote: You hipster! Haha but seriously, is there anything this language can't accomplish? Now that I'm looking into it I'd like to see size/speed/memory consumption/etc comparisons against other languages and python.
I think you'd find that the performance gains/loss from inefficient programming dwarf any losses from using a higher level language like Python rather than C/C++.
In short, performance shouldn't be a motivating factor. Especially if you're near the beginning of your journey.
∀x (∃e (e ∈ x ∧ ∀x ¬(x ∈ e)) ∨ ∃y ¬∃e (e ∈ x ∧ ¬∃z (z ∈ y ∧ z ∈ e ∧ ∀x ¬((x ∈ y ∧ x ∈ e) ∧ ¬(x = z)))))
