3 ms·

For me if I can do apt install is good. No care which language it's written in.

rgoulter 3y ago
Sure, it's convenient if there's already a system package; in which case, yes, the language is irrelevant. However, if you want to run software which isn't available as a system package, then you'll need to know how to build/run the software.
- roflyear 3y ago
  Isn't that true of many languages?
  - arp242 3y ago
    Kind of, but some languages are definitely easier to build than others (on average).
  - rgoulter 3y ago
    Surely "to run the program from source, you need to know how to build/run it" applies to every language. But I'm more comfortable working through problems I might encounter in languages I've worked with, than in languages I'm not familiar with. I'd say Python is notorious, since you're probably going to hear about at least six or seven ways people are able to run things; so if you're not familiar with it, you're likely to do something wrong. -- e.g. elsewhere in this thread, you've pointed out that stuff should be run from a venv; that's something you have to know.
    - roflyear 3y ago
      It's true: some people like Docker for Python, some like venv, some like conda... some lose it entirely and install everything locally! (acting like I haven't done this at least once!)
  - jeltz 3y ago
    Yes, but Python is among the harder languages to build while other languages can be a breeze. And that is despite having used Python much more than some of them.
    - bombolo 3y ago
      Python is rather easy. python3 -m venv bla; . bla/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; ./command Of course badly written code is buggy and will require bug fixing because it only works on the machine of the developer. I'm not sure this isn't true in other languages. I've seen go CLI utilities that were dynamically linking Gnome libraries and could not start without installing Gnome.
  - dagw 3y ago
    Many languages have much better tools that make it easy to compile/bundle an artefact that can be run without the end user having to build or install anything.
    - bombolo 3y ago
      Much better tools? Welcome to use C++ without a linux distribution providing compiler and headers!
BiteCode_dev 3y ago
Yes, if you are a user. But if you are a developer, it's not great.

Sure, it's convenient if there's already a system package; in which case, yes, the language is irrelevant. However, if you want to run software which isn't available as a system package, then you'll need to know how to build/run the software.

roflyear 3y ago
Isn't that true of many languages?
- arp242 3y ago
  Kind of, but some languages are definitely easier to build than others (on average).
- rgoulter 3y ago
  Surely "to run the program from source, you need to know how to build/run it" applies to every language. But I'm more comfortable working through problems I might encounter in languages I've worked with, than in languages I'm not familiar with. I'd say Python is notorious, since you're probably going to hear about at least six or seven ways people are able to run things; so if you're not familiar with it, you're likely to do something wrong. -- e.g. elsewhere in this thread, you've pointed out that stuff should be run from a venv; that's something you have to know.
  - roflyear 3y ago
    It's true: some people like Docker for Python, some like venv, some like conda... some lose it entirely and install everything locally! (acting like I haven't done this at least once!)
- jeltz 3y ago
  Yes, but Python is among the harder languages to build while other languages can be a breeze. And that is despite having used Python much more than some of them.
  - bombolo 3y ago
    Python is rather easy. python3 -m venv bla; . bla/bin/activate; pip install -r requirements.txt; ./command Of course badly written code is buggy and will require bug fixing because it only works on the machine of the developer. I'm not sure this isn't true in other languages. I've seen go CLI utilities that were dynamically linking Gnome libraries and could not start without installing Gnome.
- dagw 3y ago
  Many languages have much better tools that make it easy to compile/bundle an artefact that can be run without the end user having to build or install anything.
  - bombolo 3y ago
    Much better tools? Welcome to use C++ without a linux distribution providing compiler and headers!

BiteCode_dev 3y ago

Yes, if you are a user. But if you are a developer, it's not great.