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> The only reason to write in a language like C or Java today (over Python) is speed. Do you really believe that?

• charlesju 17y ago
  What are some other benefits of C or Java over something like Ruby and Python?
  • scott_s 17y ago
    The level of abstraction matches most hardware. Not all code written in C is performance-critical. But sometimes it's still the best choice if your code is directly talking to hardware.
    • jshen 17y ago
      In that case wouldn't you write some components in C and glue it all together with something like ruby?
      • scott_s 17y ago
        Sure, that sounds reasonable. But you've still chosen C to talk to the hardware.
        • jshen 17y ago
          If you're using ruby or python you're ultimately using C anyway, right ;)
• callahad 17y ago
  I think it's a reasonable statement, if the following premises are accepted: 1. It is easier and quicker to develop a correct solution in a higher level language than a lower level one. 2. Expressiveness / abstraction come at the cost of time and space efficiency. Thus, if time and space efficiency are not a concern, then the higher level language should be preferred.