Re: programming toolbox

[eliben]

Biggest issue I have with Python is screen input and output. I am trying

to master wxPython (and Tkinter) but find this aspect harder than it
ought to be.
>

This is hardly an issue with Python. You'll run into it with all
languages. You think wxPython is hard to master ? You should try
writing GUIs with C and Motif :-)

wxWidgets is, IMHO, one of the best GUI toolkits, and its Python
binding is wonderful. Get yourself the book "wxPython in action" and
you'll write pretty and functional GUIs in no time. I'm not sure how
wxPython scales for really large and complex GUIs, but for everything
I've needed from it so far, it worked beautifully.

Eli

[Derek Martin]

Re: programming toolbox

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 08:17:27AM -0500, William Purcell wrote:

I am still wondering if C++ would be worth learning and I think it could be
answered by these three questions...
>
1. Are programs written in C++ better (in any form of the word) than
programs written in python or vise versa or equal?
2. Is compiled better than interpreted?
3. Is it necessary to know any more languages than python to be a
respectable programmer, i.e. to be able to take care of most programming
problems (text manipulation, gui programming, scientific computation, web
stuff)?

I think the answer depends on what your goals are. If you want to be
a well-rounded programmer, it's good to experience a number of
different languages, so you can see different approaches to different
problems. Languages like Python tend to obscure to some degree how
things actually work inside the machine, whereas languages like C/C++
encourage that a bit more (though assembler much more so).

I think it's also a good idea to have more languages under your belt
if you want to be a professional programmer. The more tools you have
in your toolbox, the more marketable you are...

If you only want to learn to program to solve your own problems, then
it doesn't really matter. The only reason to learn additional
languages is if you find a case where what you've learned doesn't
solve your problem, or the solution is a lot harder than it should be.


--
Derek D. Martin

http://www.pizzashack.org/

GPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D


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[Krishnakant Mane]

Re: programming toolbox

hi william,
I am slightly more experienced in python than you (2 years to be presise).
Before this I handled pritty heavy as in coding and as in usage
projects in java.
Untill I came into the wonderful and powerful world of free software,
I programmed in c++ using borlands c++ compiler and IDE.
But having all this experience (I still use c for some system
programming), python has hooked me.
I am so hooked up to python that I have explored all things that is
possible in python to the extent of zope and python cgi.
If you find that wxpython is any harder then try java swing.
By the way have you looked at pygtk. It is not just rich with widgets
from gtk but also has great power and flexibility.
And since you know wxpython, learning pygtk would be a snap.
But as the saying goes, "one shoo does not fit all ".
Obviously if you are thinking about system programming like writing
device drivers etc, you will have to keep c in your programming
thinkbox.
And I find php much better comfortable and powerfull enough for web
server programming/ scripting.
I can only say one thing.
If vb facinated you on windows then, python is a cross platform vb
with power of c in many aspects.
although as fellow hackers rightly said on this thread previously,
there is no harm learning some languages like java which have long
life.
Keep away from rubbish like c# and similar .net based language.
They are very short lived and lak many powerfull features.
Happy hacking.
Krishnakant.

On 22/08/2008, Derek Martin <code@pizzashac k.orgwrote:

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 08:17:27AM -0500, William Purcell wrote:

>I am still wondering if C++ would be worth learning and I think it could
>be
>answered by these three questions...
>>
>1. Are programs written in C++ better (in any form of the word) than
>programs written in python or vise versa or equal?
>2. Is compiled better than interpreted?
>3. Is it necessary to know any more languages than python to be a
>respectable programmer, i.e. to be able to take care of most programming
>problems (text manipulation, gui programming, scientific computation, web
>stuff)?

>
I think the answer depends on what your goals are. If you want to be
a well-rounded programmer, it's good to experience a number of
different languages, so you can see different approaches to different
problems. Languages like Python tend to obscure to some degree how
things actually work inside the machine, whereas languages like C/C++
encourage that a bit more (though assembler much more so).
>
I think it's also a good idea to have more languages under your belt
if you want to be a professional programmer. The more tools you have
in your toolbox, the more marketable you are...
>
If you only want to learn to program to solve your own problems, then
it doesn't really matter. The only reason to learn additional
languages is if you find a case where what you've learned doesn't
solve your problem, or the solution is a lot harder than it should be.
>
>
--
Derek D. Martin

http://www.pizzashack.org/

GPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D
>
>

[Mensanator]

Re: programming toolbox

On Aug 22, 11:17 am, "Krishnakan t Mane" <hackin...@gmai l.comwrote:

hi william,
I am slightly more experienced in python than you (2 years to be presise)..
Before this I handled pritty heavy as in coding and as in usage
projects in java.
Untill I came into the wonderful and powerful world of free software,
I programmed in c++ using borlands c++ compiler and IDE.
But having all this experience (I still use c for some system
programming), python has hooked me.
I am so hooked up to python that I have explored all things that is
possible in python to the extent of zope and python cgi.
If you find that wxpython is any harder then try java swing.
By the way have you looked at pygtk.  It is not just rich with widgets
from gtk but also has great power and flexibility.
And since you know wxpython, learning pygtk would be a snap.
But as the saying goes, "one shoo does not fit all ".
Obviously if you are thinking about system programming like writing
device drivers etc, you will have to keep c in your programming
thinkbox.
And I find php much better comfortable and powerfull enough for web
server programming/ scripting.
I can only say one thing.
If vb facinated you on windows then, python is a cross platform vb
with power of c in many aspects.
although as fellow hackers rightly said on this thread previously,
there is no harm learning some languages like java which have long
life.
Keep away from rubbish like c# and similar .net based language.
They are very short lived and lak many powerfull features.
Happy hacking.
Krishnakant.
>
On 22/08/2008, Derek Martin <c...@pizzashac k.orgwrote:
>
>
>

On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 08:17:27AM -0500, William Purcell wrote:

I am still wondering if C++ would be worth learning and I think it could
be
answered by these three questions...

>

1. Are programs written in C++ better (in any form of the word) than
programs written in python or vise versa or equal?

In some forms of "better", yes, in some forms, no, in others equal.

2. Is compiled better than interpreted?

If my program spends 99% of it's time in the gmpy module
(which is compiled C code) doing complicated arithmetic,
then there isn't much to be gained by compiling the remaining
1%, is there?

3. Is it necessary to know any more languages than python to be a
respectable programmer, i.e. to be able to take care of most programming
problems (text manipulation, gui programming, scientific computation, web
stuff)?

>

I think the answer depends on what your goals are.  If you want to be
a well-rounded programmer, it's good to experience a number of
different languages, so you can see different approaches to different
problems.  Languages like Python tend to obscure to some degree how
things actually work inside the machine, whereas languages like C/C++
encourage that a bit more (though assembler much more so).

>

I think it's also a good idea to have more languages under your belt
if you want to be a professional programmer.  The more tools you have
in your toolbox, the more marketable you are...

>

If you only want to learn to program to solve your own problems, then
it doesn't really matter.  The only reason to learn additional
languages is if you find a case where what you've learned doesn't
solve your problem, or the solution is a lot harder than it should be.

>

--
Derek D. Martin

http://www.pizzashack.org/

GPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D- Hide quoted text -

>
- Show quoted text -