> My view is that there has been excessive boosterism for Python, Perhaps. > So having packages in Python doesn't matter, and therefore it is not > really a selling point and > maybe should not be mentioned prominently because users don't care?? At least pedagogical users care. It is possible Python is not ideal for this or that - though apparently Perl and Python both are very, very good at binding things together, as it were (?). But that's not the main selling point of Python for me, nor for those Jason and I worked with this summer in our workshop. The selling point is that it is easy enough to learn that it's possible to do very basic programs pretty quickly, even for those with no previous experience.
I don't know if this is unique to Python - almost assuredly not. You'd want to have an interpreted language, though, for the instant feedback on simple things - why on earth should someone have to compile a Hello World? (Pedagogically, I mean, not if you are learning a compiled language for some other good reason.) It should have somewhat natural syntax for things like loops. It should have lots of easily accessible, very clear and basic-level references. And so on. Python does have these traits; probably some other languages do as well. I've read the Little Lisper, and Lisp ain't this language. Though that is an awesome book. The Maxima language might be this; sometimes it seems arcane, but I suppose once one got used to : instead of = (or, for that matter -> in Maple?), perhaps it would be okay. C, Java, C++, all those guys - no. In fact, there seems to be a big move from Java to Python for introductory CS - so that students who have less experience can start programming immediately, without having to do things like main methods or return types - not that those things aren't important, but that they are a stumbling block for someone who wants to learn how to implement an algorithm first. It's hard to learn to do two things simultaneously (<rant>which is why students have so much trouble with 'word' optimization problems in calculus; I just learned how to use derivatives to find maxima, and now you want me to do so in semi-real situations, even though I don't actually have any experience doing this in high school because we just learned to memorize what formula to use in what situation and finding maximum volumes of boxes or rates of emptying of conical water tanks doesn't fit that...</rant>). But now it's a moot point. Maxima uses Lisp; Sage has Python; XYZ has WTQ; etc. For some people Python is a selling point; let it be a selling point, then. - kcrisman -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
