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"You don't have to learn some special language to create high-performant applications or libraries." I like this comment, which seems to suggest that I don't n

by jVinc 8y ago

"You don't have to learn some special language to create high-performant applications or libraries." I like this comment, which seems to suggest that I don't need to learn LLVM IR in order to write a python class that emits LLVM IR when run through python code. I'd suggest that perhaps the reason he's able to do this is exactly because he knows "some special language" quite well.

geofft 8y ago
Well, as long as the operations you want are add/sub/mul/div/array indexing, you don't need to learn LLVM IR—you can just copy the class in this blogpost and write your completely unrelated algorithm in plain Python just as this post does, and it will work. Basically the author has written a tiny framework for making a reasonable subset of Python a DSL that targets LLVM, which is super cool.
- pacala 8y ago
  Seconded on super-cool. With function calls, dictionary and dataclasses support would cover 95% of my python coding.
- bmer 8y ago
  I think this is a pretty good tutorial for beginning to contribute to: http://numba.pydata.org/ http://numba.pydata.org/
yvdriess 8y ago
When such statements in the style of "you don't have to learn a new language" is uttered, it is usually completely ignoring the fact that solving the problem at hand is many times harder than learning some new syntax. Learning C when coming from Python is not hard because as a language C is hard. To generalize, I have the impression that the general CS/programmer culture values initial easy of use much more than long term usefulness. And that's not directed at the younger generation, you will find plenty of old farts that only want to use or learn git when it's been thoroughly lathered the thick sugary syrup of a pretty GUI.
- d33 8y ago
  Git CLI is universally agreed to be absolutely terrible, with its manuals actually making it worse. Just flick through one or two blog posts you can find here, many of which already made HN: https://www.google.com/search?q=why%20git%20cli%20sucks https://www.google.com/search?q=why%20git%20cli%20sucks
  - Tarean 8y ago
    There are two ways to use git: - learn a basic workflow and ask/google for help for problems. A gui makes this slightly easier - learn the underlying model for git. Then you probably still have to google for invocations occasionally but you would have to do the same with a sugary gui. And for complex actions in a gui the answer usually is 'use the cli' Plus occasionally a gui does something incredibly weird like giving direct access to `git clean --force` like vs code did a while back.
  - btilly 8y ago
    https://xkcd.com/1597/ https://xkcd.com/1597/ is a sadly accurate description of how most of us use git.
    - marktangotango 8y ago
      People used to say that about svn to which I akways found so odd. Perhaps I was fortunate to start out on a team that actually understood branching, merging, and most importantly, how to resolve merge conflicts?
  - mlthoughts2018 8y ago
    I like git cli and find it to be amazingly well-designed and intuitive.
    - d33 8y ago
      If you could expand it into a longer answer, I would appreciate that - perhaps there are some pieces of good design (git add -p?) in Git, but overall it's too messy for many.

by jVinc 8y ago

geofft 8y ago

Well, as long as the operations you want are add/sub/mul/div/array indexing, you don't need to learn LLVM IR—you can just copy the class in this blogpost and write your completely unrelated algorithm in plain Python just as this post does, and it will work. Basically the author has written a tiny framework for making a reasonable subset of Python a DSL that targets LLVM, which is super cool.

pacala 8y ago
Seconded on super-cool. With function calls, dictionary and dataclasses support would cover 95% of my python coding.
bmer 8y ago
I think this is a pretty good tutorial for beginning to contribute to: http://numba.pydata.org/ http://numba.pydata.org/

yvdriess 8y ago

When such statements in the style of "you don't have to learn a new language" is uttered, it is usually completely ignoring the fact that solving the problem at hand is many times harder than learning some new syntax. Learning C when coming from Python is not hard because as a language C is hard. To generalize, I have the impression that the general CS/programmer culture values initial easy of use much more than long term usefulness. And that's not directed at the younger generation, you will find plenty of old farts that only want to use or learn git when it's been thoroughly lathered the thick sugary syrup of a pretty GUI.

d33 8y ago
Git CLI is universally agreed to be absolutely terrible, with its manuals actually making it worse. Just flick through one or two blog posts you can find here, many of which already made HN: https://www.google.com/search?q=why%20git%20cli%20sucks https://www.google.com/search?q=why%20git%20cli%20sucks
- Tarean 8y ago
  There are two ways to use git: - learn a basic workflow and ask/google for help for problems. A gui makes this slightly easier - learn the underlying model for git. Then you probably still have to google for invocations occasionally but you would have to do the same with a sugary gui. And for complex actions in a gui the answer usually is 'use the cli' Plus occasionally a gui does something incredibly weird like giving direct access to `git clean --force` like vs code did a while back.
- btilly 8y ago
  https://xkcd.com/1597/ https://xkcd.com/1597/ is a sadly accurate description of how most of us use git.
  - marktangotango 8y ago
    People used to say that about svn to which I akways found so odd. Perhaps I was fortunate to start out on a team that actually understood branching, merging, and most importantly, how to resolve merge conflicts?
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  I like git cli and find it to be amazingly well-designed and intuitive.
  - d33 8y ago
    If you could expand it into a longer answer, I would appreciate that - perhaps there are some pieces of good design (git add -p?) in Git, but overall it's too messy for many.