On Feb 2, 12:32 am, "OKB (not okblacke)" <brennospamb...@nobrenspambarn.net> wrote: > Tim Wintle wrote: > > (2) is especially important IMO - under half of the python > > developers I have regularly worked with would feel comfortable > > reading C - so for the other half reading C source code probably > > isn't going to help them understand exactly what's going on > > (although in the long run it might help them a lot) > > I'd just like to note that (2) applies to me in spades. I'm not > sure how many other people are in my position, but I use Python because > I like how it works, and I do not want to use C because I find it > insufferable. I quite frequently look at the source of Python modules, > although more often third-party modules than the standard lib, but if I > have to look at the C source of something I basically stop and find > another solution (possibly abandoning Python altogether for that usage). > > I think, in general, the less anyone needs to know C even exists, > the better for Python; likewise, the more that people have to mention > the existence of C in a Python context, the worse for Python. This may > be a somewhat extreme viewpoint, but that's my position.
In 1990 I wrote a paper elaborating this. http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=126471 It is dated (before python, java, haskell and the internet as we know it today) It is also dated in the sense that I dont totally agree with the strong views therein (I was half my age then :-) Still if you want it its here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P-BQtpyzjjjOKxzhKjIGI-GLMXW5bOZ6xYBJhApwqLc/edit?hl=en [PS Does not read properly in google docs though it reads ok in acroread and evince ] -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
