Bill Atkins wrote: > greg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >> On the plus side, Python makes less demands on the >> capabilities of the editor. All you really need >> is block-shifting commands. Bracket matching is >> handy for expressions but not vital, and you >> certainly don't need bracket-based auto-indenting. > > Oh, please. So we should restrict the power of the languages we > choose just to make sure that our code can be edited in Notepad?
Perhaps not. The use of a decent editor seems a fair requirement for any language. But one of the things that I dislike about Java, .NET and to some extent XML (XML Schema for instance), is that the only way to really be productive in these languages/environments is to use tools that generate or otherwise manage huge amounts of code for you based on whatever GUI settings. If the language is so complex or verbose that you can't really use it without a GUI tool, then why bother having a language in the first place. Furthermore these tools are typically expensive and to run comfortably they require more processing power and memory than the lightweight ultra-portable type laptops that I like so much can provide. I can't speak about Lisp, but the great thing about Python, IMHO, is that you can get quite far with not much more than Notepad. I find this important because I find GUIs a very tedious and ineffective way to describe whatever it is that I am trying to implement. Perhaps I'm just getting old ... Regards, Jan -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
