Anthony Irwin wrote: > Hi All, > > I am currently trying to decide between using python or java and have > a few quick questions about python that you may be able to help with. > > #1 Does python have something like javas .jar packages. A jar file > contains all the program files and you can execute the program with > java -jar program.jar > > I am sort of hoping python has something like this because I feel it > makes it easier to distribute between platforms e.g. linux, mac > windows etc. > > #2 What database do people recommend for using with python that is > easy to distribute across linux, mac, windows. > > #3 Is there any equivalent to jfreechart and jfreereport > (http://www.jfree.org for details) in python. > > #4 If I write a program a test it with python-wxgtk2.6 under linux are > the program windows likely to look right under windows and mac? > > #5 someone said that they used to use python but stopped because the > language changed or made stuff depreciated (I can fully remember > which) and old code stopped working. Is code written today likely to > still work in 5+ years or do they depreciate stuff and you have to update? > > Anyway hopefully someone can help me out with these last few questions > I have. > > Also does anyone else have any useful comments about python vs java > without starting a flame war. > > > Flame war? Here amongst all the reasonable adults programmers? It never happens.
1) I always thought jar files were weird. Change the run mode on you python script and just run it, over and over. chmod u+x program.py ./program.py No doubt you are (shudder) a Windows user (and beat yourself in the closet at night as well). No doubt Windows has a feature to set the privilege on a file to make it executable. With any luck, I'll never know. 2) Python interfaces with with damn near every database I've ever seen, regardless if the database is on the same system or remote. At worst case, it seems to have ODBC connection (yes I know, C and connect are the same thing, like an American saying Mount Fujiyama, which is of course, Mount Fuji Mount) feature. Not as precise as a targeted connector, but it works. There are even multiple ways to 'see' the database. As strings, lists, objects, rows, tables and dictionaries. It's all quite a powerful tool. Image, getting to choose how you 'see' the database. Who'd have thunk! 3) No idea about jfree. Perhaps a few keyword searchs on Google or Sourceforge would give you an answer. 6) Never programmed wx. But it seems to be very stable on the programs I've downloaded. Anyway mapping one GUI to another is always an imprecise effort (especially when you have 235 patents on the product that you dare not tell anyone about). No two mindset ever really meet, especially when money is involved. 5) All languages grow. Get over it. But, if you keep the older interpreter around, you can still run your old scripts. At NCR I had to support 6 different version of Perl because the programmers wouldn't fix/update their code. Seem they had better things to do and you can always expect the Sysadmin to save your bacon. But if you haven't got to that point (six version to support) yet, during pre-upgrade tests, you might run the program and note the features that are going to be decrepit. Generally you have a few minor version releases (year or more) before the decrepit feature is dropped. Then you can decide if upgrading/fix or running multiple version of python is the right path for you. Using the PYTHONPATH environment variable is a good way to redirect your older scripts to use decrepit feature via an older interpreter. The (6) you didn't ask. As a Sysadmin, I hate Java. It's a resource hog. Little tasks take hundreds of megabytes of RAM. What can one expect. It's a virtual machine inside your computer. Hog it must be! Python is a bit slimmer on the memory footprint and I think a hell of a lot easier to debug. Even strace can be used on python programs. Never got strace to work on Java scripts. The (7) you didn't ask. Last month there was a full flame war about java/python on the python-list. It petered out after about 15 days. You might review the archives to get a sense for yourself (so we don't have repeat the war, just for you). sph -- HEX: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
