I think your mixing things up. Even modern C compiler are mostly written in some other high level language. See GCC, for instance: it's mostly written in C.
Many languages are made for build other major systems: * C was made in order to ease the build of Unix * Ada was made in order to ease the build of Air Traffic Control Systems. * and so on... On the other hand, Python's language features are, in a way, orthogonal to those of the underlying language in which Python *may* be implemented (take a look at PyPy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PyPy). I mean, I really don't care how Python mappings are implemented in C. What I care about is that I think in terms of (key, value) mappings, regardless of how lookups, insertions, deletions, and so are made internally. In C, I would have to resort to implement a hash table or so. Let's summarize: Python is a *new* language. C was the option to make it happen, there are others. Manuel. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I'm just learning about Python now and it sounds interesting. But I > just read (on the Wiki page) that mainstream Python was written in C. > That's what I was searching for: Python was written in what other > language? > > See, my concern was something like: OK, if Python is so hot, then, > hopefully someone is writing it in assembly language for each MPU chip > out there. Otherwise, if, say, they've written it in C#, then it looks > like the REAL, generally useful language to learn is C# and Python is > akin to Visual Basic or something: a specialty language....whereas > REAL WORLD programmers who want to be generally useful go and learn > C#. > > So I was suspecting the Python compiler or interpreter is written in a > REAL language like C#. So, Wiki says it's written in C! It's almost as > if it were an intentional trick...write your own, new language in an > OLD, real world language that is passe. Compile it into executable > modules of course, so it is a real, working compiler, alright. But the > SOURCE is some old, high level language which no one wants to use > anymore! So now you've got a hot new language package and no one can > say "well, it is written in, the SOURCE code is written in, a REAL > language." No, it's not! The source is some outdated language and > compiler and no one is going to prefer learning THAT to learning your > hot new language! > > I'm not dissing Python, here. Just noting that, if it is written in C, > that throws a curve at me in trying to balance the value of learning > Python vs. some other major language. > -- > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list > -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
