By: Foo_ (foo.delete@this.nomail.com), March 9, 2008 9:59 am
Room: Moderated Discussions
JasonB (no@spam.com) on 3/3/08 wrote:
---------------------------
>
>OK, explain the difference, then. How do you average three lines of C++ code per
>line of Python code when their syntax is practically 1:1?
It's not just syntax, it's semantics. Compare the lame std::string type with Python's str and unicode types, for example. Compare the garbage collector with the burden of managing memory by hand. Compare the standard library. Compare the fact that everything is an object (including functions, methods...) with C++'s typing mess. etc.
Unless you only program Mandelbrot-calculation loops it is quite clear how Python is more concise than C++.
For a start, C++'s crippled standard library should be a big warning against using that language for general-purpose tasks, unless you are masochistic.
>I look at examples like http://www.dmh2000.com/cjpr/cmpframe.html
Sorry that's a stupid example. You don't write red-black trees in pure Python, it is not "idiomatic" by any meaning of the word. And the example itself is a straight translation from a textbook algorithm, no wonder line counts end up quite similar.
>Also, one of the things I like most about C++
>is that doing nice stuff is concise;
IMO only a Java or Pascal programmer can find C++ concise. There is no conciseness in the way you declare and use function types, method pointer types, etc., in C++.
>Perhaps some concrete examples would be nice to highlight what I've overlooked.
You can find some concrete examples here:
http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/
Since those examples are very short and calculatory programs, they don't really highlight what the high-level semantics of Python or Ruby can bring in terms of conciseness.
>>C++ is good for some applications, python is good for some applications.
>
>As I said right at the beginning. A classic Pentium is fine for plenty of applications as well.
Your classic Pentium does not have abstraction, maintainability and robustness advantages over a Core 2 Duo, while Python has over C++.
---------------------------
>
>OK, explain the difference, then. How do you average three lines of C++ code per
>line of Python code when their syntax is practically 1:1?
It's not just syntax, it's semantics. Compare the lame std::string type with Python's str and unicode types, for example. Compare the garbage collector with the burden of managing memory by hand. Compare the standard library. Compare the fact that everything is an object (including functions, methods...) with C++'s typing mess. etc.
Unless you only program Mandelbrot-calculation loops it is quite clear how Python is more concise than C++.
For a start, C++'s crippled standard library should be a big warning against using that language for general-purpose tasks, unless you are masochistic.
>I look at examples like http://www.dmh2000.com/cjpr/cmpframe.html
Sorry that's a stupid example. You don't write red-black trees in pure Python, it is not "idiomatic" by any meaning of the word. And the example itself is a straight translation from a textbook algorithm, no wonder line counts end up quite similar.
>Also, one of the things I like most about C++
>is that doing nice stuff is concise;
IMO only a Java or Pascal programmer can find C++ concise. There is no conciseness in the way you declare and use function types, method pointer types, etc., in C++.
>Perhaps some concrete examples would be nice to highlight what I've overlooked.
You can find some concrete examples here:
http://shootout.alioth.debian.org/
Since those examples are very short and calculatory programs, they don't really highlight what the high-level semantics of Python or Ruby can bring in terms of conciseness.
>>C++ is good for some applications, python is good for some applications.
>
>As I said right at the beginning. A classic Pentium is fine for plenty of applications as well.
Your classic Pentium does not have abstraction, maintainability and robustness advantages over a Core 2 Duo, while Python has over C++.
Topic | Posted By | Date |
---|---|---|
Multicore is unlikely to be the ideal answer. | Anders Jensen | 2008/02/14 04:24 AM |
And the links.. | Anders Jensen | 2008/02/14 04:25 AM |
Disappointing.. | Linus Torvalds | 2008/02/14 10:17 AM |
Disappointing.. | Mark Roulo | 2008/02/14 11:03 AM |
LOL (NT) | Linus Torvalds | 2008/02/14 05:43 PM |
Disappointing.. | David Patterson | 2008/02/15 11:53 AM |
Disappointing.. | Linus Torvalds | 2008/02/15 05:01 PM |
Disappointing.. | anon | 2008/02/15 08:54 PM |
Disappointing.. | JasonB | 2008/02/19 07:45 PM |
Disappointing.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/22 06:27 PM |
Disappointing.. | Scott Bolt | 2008/03/16 11:36 AM |
Need for new programming languages | Vincent Diepeveen | 2008/02/19 06:18 AM |
Need for new programming languages | Pete Wilson | 2008/02/24 11:41 AM |
Disappointing.. | Zan | 2008/02/25 10:52 PM |
Disappointing.. | Robert Myers | 2008/02/19 09:47 PM |
Disappointing.. | Fred Bosick | 2008/02/22 06:38 PM |
Disappointing.. | Robert Myers | 2008/03/01 01:17 PM |
The limits of single CPU speed are here. | John Nagle | 2008/03/14 10:55 AM |
The limits of single CPU speed are here. | Howard Chu | 2008/03/15 01:02 AM |
The limits of single CPU speed are here. | slacker | 2008/03/15 08:08 AM |
The limits of single CPU speed are here. | Howard Chu | 2008/03/17 01:47 AM |
The limits of single CPU speed are here. | slacker | 2008/03/17 10:04 AM |
And the links.. | Howard Chu | 2008/02/14 12:58 PM |
I take some of that back | Howard Chu | 2008/02/14 01:55 PM |
And the links.. | Jesper Frimann | 2008/02/14 02:02 PM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/15 02:24 PM |
And the links.. | iz | 2008/02/17 10:55 AM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/17 07:09 PM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/18 01:54 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/18 10:34 PM |
And the links.. | Thiago Kurovski | 2008/02/19 07:01 PM |
And the links.. | iz | 2008/02/20 10:36 AM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/20 03:37 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/20 06:28 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/17 06:47 PM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/18 02:27 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/18 10:00 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/19 03:14 AM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/20 04:29 PM |
And the links.. | JasonB | 2008/02/20 06:14 PM |
And the links.. | Ilya Lipovsky | 2008/02/21 11:07 AM |
And the links.. | Howard Chu | 2008/02/14 01:16 PM |
And the links.. | Jukka Larja | 2008/02/15 03:00 AM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | David Kanter | 2008/02/15 11:41 AM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Howard Chu | 2008/02/15 12:49 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | David Kanter | 2008/02/15 03:48 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Howard Chu | 2008/02/17 05:42 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | nick | 2008/02/17 09:15 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Howard Chu | 2008/02/18 04:23 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | nick | 2008/02/18 10:03 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Howard Chu | 2008/02/19 01:39 AM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | rcf | 2008/02/19 12:44 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Howard Chu | 2008/02/19 03:25 PM |
Average programmers | anon | 2008/02/18 12:40 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | JasonB | 2008/02/15 08:02 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | JasonB | 2008/02/15 08:02 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Dean Kent | 2008/02/15 08:07 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | Ray | 2008/02/20 03:20 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | JasonB | 2008/02/20 06:11 PM |
Berkeley View on Parallelism | FritzR | 2008/02/24 03:08 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | nordsieck | 2008/02/22 03:38 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/02/23 05:53 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | nordsieck | 2008/03/02 01:40 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Michael S | 2008/03/02 02:49 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/02 07:41 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Michael S | 2008/03/02 08:19 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/02 08:30 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/02 05:26 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/02 06:01 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | Anonymous | 2008/03/03 02:11 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/03 09:40 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Foo_ | 2008/03/09 09:59 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/10 01:12 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Gabriele Svelto | 2008/03/10 02:22 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/10 04:35 AM |
C++ for beginners | Michael S | 2008/03/10 05:16 AM |
C++ for beginners | JasonB | 2008/03/10 06:35 AM |
C++ | Michael S | 2008/03/10 04:55 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Linus Torvalds | 2008/03/03 11:35 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/03 02:35 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | JasonB | 2008/03/03 03:57 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/03 08:10 PM |
rubyinline, etc. | Michael S | 2008/03/04 01:53 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/04 07:51 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Michael S | 2008/03/04 08:29 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/04 08:53 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Michael S | 2008/03/04 11:20 AM |
rubyinline, etc. | Dean Kent | 2008/03/04 02:13 PM |
read it. thanks (NT) | Michael S | 2008/03/04 04:31 PM |
efficient HLL's | Patrik Hägglund | 2008/03/04 03:34 PM |
efficient HLL's | Wes Felter | 2008/03/04 09:33 PM |
efficient HLL's | Patrik Hägglund | 2008/03/05 01:23 AM |
efficient HLL's | Michael S | 2008/03/05 02:45 AM |
efficient HLL's | Wilco | 2008/03/05 05:34 PM |
efficient HLL's | Howard Chu | 2008/03/05 07:11 PM |
efficient HLL's | Wilco | 2008/03/06 02:27 PM |
efficient HLL's | anon | 2008/03/05 08:20 AM |
And the links.. | Groo | 2008/02/17 04:28 PM |
And the links.. | Vincent Diepeveen | 2008/02/18 02:33 AM |