On Mon, January 8, 2007 10:08 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Mon, Jan 08, 2007 at 02:19:29AM -0800, Andrew Lentvorski wrote: >> >And, could that functionality by handled by something else in modern >> >scripting langs? >> >> Absolutely. It just requires more glue. The question is whether the >> glue is irritating enough to switch languages. > > Man the question you posed above is a tough one to answer. For example, > most > will agree Python does faster development than C or (assembly!). OTOH, > suppose > we were talking to someone who had done C for the last 20 years and > vaguely > learned Python last week. Which language would he build various things in > faster?....Are you sure? :) > > Now back to Lisp.....suppose I spend next 20 years learning Python cold > and in > 2027 I finally arrive at a problem that *begs* for Lisp. Which language > will > be fastest *for me* ?? Not an easy question is it? :) >
A perceptive question, for both the individual and a team. I believe "the first pancake should be thrown away." IMO, all too often the language is chosen based on (1) M$'s product du jour, and (2) what the programmers already know. One of the reasons I love and advocate Tcl/Tk is that it far and away has the easiest facility for binding in C/C++ (or other language) routines as new interpreter commands. So you can have the relative productivity of high-level scripting coupled with the low-level precision of library routines that do exactly what you want. Need an interpreter that combines photo analysis with machine control (two disparate areas picked at random)? You can have it in a couple of day's effort, and have it use the same Tcl syntax you've already learned. I really don't believe that there is one language that fits all applications. But if someone put a gun in my ribs and told me I could only select two for the rest of my life, it would be C and Tcl/Tk. If it was only one and I had access to all libs and support, it's be Tcl/Tk. (But I'd miss C.) :'-( -- Lan Barnes SCM Analyst Linux Guy Tcl/Tk Enthusiast Biodiesel Brewer -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
