First. The question is moot. It's a programming language. It's good for programming.
When I push back, folks try to produce languages which exist only in certain pigeon holes.
"You know. PHP is for web and JavaScript runs in the browser. What's Python for?"
The PHP and JavaScript examples aren't helpful. That doesn't narrow the domain of problems for which Python is appropriate. It only shows that some languages have narrow domains.
"You know. Objective-C and Swift are for iOS. What's the predominant place Python is used?"
Python also runs on iOS. I don't know if it has suitable bindings for building apps. If it does, that doesn't change my answer. It's good for programming.
"Java is used mainly for web apps, right? What about Python?"
Okay. At this point, the question has slipped from moot to ignorant.
Can we just set that aside? Can we move on?
If you want some useful insight, start here:
http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~bchandra/courses/papers/Wirth_Design.pdf
Yes, it's an essay from 1974. Parts of it are a little old-fashioned, but a lot of it is still rock-solid. For example, the idea of strongly-typed pointers is considered more-or-less standard now. It was debatable then. And Wirth's opinion continues to drive language design.
Page 28 has the key points: features of a programming language. Enumerated by the inventor of Pascal, Modula, Oberon, and other languages too numerous to recall.
Some of the list is a little dated. "...different character sets...," for example, has been superseded by Unicode.
Also, the list is focused on compiled languages. Python is a dynamic language. It's interpreted. Yes, there's a compiler, but that's mostly an optimization of the source code. If you replace "compiler" with "run-time", the list stands up as a description of good languages.
I like this list because it helps characterize why Python works out so well. And why many other languages are also pretty good. It points up the reason why quirky languages like JavaScript (or even Ruby) are suspicious. Some of the points about efficiency are important topics for further discussion.
I often have to remind folks who work with Big Data that most of our processing is I/O bound. Python waits for the database somewhat more efficiently than Java. Why does Python wait more efficiently? Because it uses less memory. Sometimes this is a win.
Let's not ask silly questions about a general-purpose language. Instead, let's benchmark solutions, and compare tangible performance numbers using real code.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
The Lynda.com Experience
One word: "wow"
More words: "Helping shy people get up and do what needs to be done."
Yes, that's Garrison Keillor's tag line for one of the "sponsors" of "A Prairie Home Companion": the Powdermilk Biscuits company. (Heavens. they're tasty and expeditious.)
The folks at Lynda are truly great at shepherding folks through the process of preparing and recording their material.
Recording is hard. The point is to say each thing perfectly. But, the things have to fit into a larger narrative of a section that fits into the larger sequence of chapters that makes up the course.'
Giving essentially the same content in a presentation at a conference is almost unrelated. Talking at a conference has a live audience. It's one-time-only, and you can ad-lib.
Doing this takes patience. And skilled editing both at a content level and at a technical level. Lynda has it all.
The thing that made me the most comfortable was having my presentation material ready. Each section is a 5-minute lightning talk. I was had all of my slides ready. I'd been through them enough times to be sure that I could handle the 5-minute format. And when there are editorial changes, they tended to be relatively minor.
I may try it again. It's a lot of work. Certainly more work than writing a chapter in a book. A chapter can go deep. A presentation has to stick to the high points: this means that the supporting depth must be there, but you're not going to wallow around in it. Essentially, you're making the "elevator pitch" for each one of your points.
The recording and live action studio space were fun. I've never been recorded or taped like that before. They eased me into it, coached me through it, and made sure all of the content was there in a way that could be edited into a high quality final product.
More words: "Helping shy people get up and do what needs to be done."
Yes, that's Garrison Keillor's tag line for one of the "sponsors" of "A Prairie Home Companion": the Powdermilk Biscuits company. (Heavens. they're tasty and expeditious.)
The folks at Lynda are truly great at shepherding folks through the process of preparing and recording their material.
Recording is hard. The point is to say each thing perfectly. But, the things have to fit into a larger narrative of a section that fits into the larger sequence of chapters that makes up the course.'
Giving essentially the same content in a presentation at a conference is almost unrelated. Talking at a conference has a live audience. It's one-time-only, and you can ad-lib.
Doing this takes patience. And skilled editing both at a content level and at a technical level. Lynda has it all.
The thing that made me the most comfortable was having my presentation material ready. Each section is a 5-minute lightning talk. I was had all of my slides ready. I'd been through them enough times to be sure that I could handle the 5-minute format. And when there are editorial changes, they tended to be relatively minor.
I may try it again. It's a lot of work. Certainly more work than writing a chapter in a book. A chapter can go deep. A presentation has to stick to the high points: this means that the supporting depth must be there, but you're not going to wallow around in it. Essentially, you're making the "elevator pitch" for each one of your points.
The recording and live action studio space were fun. I've never been recorded or taped like that before. They eased me into it, coached me through it, and made sure all of the content was there in a way that could be edited into a high quality final product.
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