In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Reedick, Andrew" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:python- > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carl Banks > > Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 8:39 PM > > To: python-list@python.org > > Subject: Re: Article of interest: Python pros/cons for the enterprise > > > C++ is a compile-time, type-checked language, which means it is > > totally safer for newbies than Python. Yep, your big company is > > totally safe with newbie C++ programmers. > > Eh, don't laugh too hard. Since Python code isn't type-checked until > the actual code block is executed, you have to go through the extra step > of testing/running every line of code before you'll find an error. > Then there's the problem of how mutable Python objects are. So even if > you execute every line of code, you might not have executed the code > with every possible type of object combination. > > Compared to a statically typed language, it can get very expensive to > write comprehensive test cases for python scripts. So I wouldn't be > quick to dismiss the notion that Java/C#/C++ are more newbie-safe than > Python. =/ > > An amusing case in point was where I had a type-cast error in an > exception's catch block's print statement. This simple error caused the > program to stop with an unhandled exception. Something that basic would > have been caught in a statically typed language very early in the dev > cycle when it's cheaper to fix the problem. And the idea of > running/testing exceptions or simple print statements isn't always > foremost in people's minds. =P Well, you're technically right about static typing. That could head off some bugs... But my experience over several years has been that this has never happened to me. That is, where I need to test every line of code or even half of them. What usually happens is that I get an error, I get the line and module, go there, and realize I tried to use data that didn't fit the expression (e.g. an object without the required method). Usually, a one-step fix. What still occasionally gets me is mutable objects where I just use "=" to set two things (accidentally) equal to a mutable object instead of copying. Then modify one and get and error when the other object is used since they were the same object. I know better, but I have a half life on this of about 4 months which means that about twice a year this one gets me. Looking at it the other way having done C++ development, I am w a y more productive in Python and overall spend far less time debugging. Just my experience. YMMV. -- -- Lou Pecora -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
