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Precisely what category of "awesome new thing[s]" needs to be developed in Python and can not be implemented in Java or C?

• staunch 17y ago
  I'm not saying there's anything technically wrong/bad about Java/C++. Awesome new things come from people's brains. Some people's brains are sensitive to things like motivation/happiness. Python makes some people's brains more motivated/happy than Java/C++ does. An new thing may never get off the ground, or be taken far enough to become awesome if the developer doesn't have the motivation to work on it.
• rbanffy 17y ago
  A tongue-in-cheek reply could be "something that has to be done in a short time?" A programmer using Python (and Ruby, Perl, Lisp, Smalltalk) is usually more productive than one with comparable brain-size using Java or C.
  • lucifer 17y ago
    Productive in this context means 'coming up with an idea that Google can turn into a product'. /tongue-in-cheek
    • rbanffy 17y ago
      A nice approach is to develop in your VHLL of choice, profile and rewrite the more important parts in a less expressive (but faster/leaner) language like Java or C (or Verilog)
      • lucifer 17y ago
        Exactly. (Obviously the preference would not be to prototype ideas in a statically typed language.) My expectation of the mythical Google engineer is that s/he can crank out the code whether its Python, Java, or C++. So, I remain unconvinced that Google the company is going to lose wonderful ideas because of their strong preferences regarding their production codebase.
    • stcredzero 17y ago
      Function Points/LOC is about the same for Smalltalk/Lisp/Ruby/Python. There are Smalltalk and Lisp implementations that run impressively fast. Also, memory use is more efficient. Library support is much better on Ruby and Python, however, due to the size and vibrancy of the user communities. If I were Google, I would develop a server-oriented language on top of the V8 virtual machine, using the "good parts" of Javascript as a compiler target. Add optional typing and type inference, but only as a parse/compile time facility to provide information to the programmer. Add a functional programming sub-grammar with the same facility. Then, add a fast Python implementation using the same engine, with strong support for calls from one language to the other. This way, Google would get the benefit of both the vibrant Python community and a fast, scalable VM.
      • nostrademons 17y ago
        Unladen Swallow.
        • stcredzero 17y ago
          By using V8, they would also have the combination of the Javascript and Python communities.