uman

I'm thinking about learning another language. Currently I know C++ semi-well. What are the advantages/disadvantages of Python?

ZenMasterJG

the advantages: its a very high level language. it tries to be smarter then you are, which i like, cuz im lazy. all variables are references, which i like, cuz pointers make me want to cry. Its got amazing built in data structures, and you can easily make very complex data structures by layering the built-ins
Disadvantages: not super-amazing proformance, but its not bad either.
i think python is pretty great for everything. i prototype all my major projects in python before implementing them in c++ or java or whatever the project needs to be written in. more and more often i find myself slapping myself for forcing some project to be written in java when it would have been way faster, easier, and just better in python.

Berto

http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/index.htm

a good learn python link.

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SaturN

I'm learning C++ now, after learning a bit of python, and python is so much easier and so much more compact than c++, personal opinion!! You need ; at the end of every statement in c++, but don't in python, just to run a simple program in c++ you need int #include and using namespace jargon!!
I just recon python is easier!

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uman

You never need to do "use namespace" anything in C++ :-P

Dietrich

If you want to learn how to program the computer, Python would be the way to go. The code is simpler and easier to learn. Python is an interpreter so you can experiment with computing concepts quickly, might even have fun!

In the end, C++ is the way to go to write professional code you can actually sell. Knowing both languages is a plus! They sort of complement each other.

Heard on the street, Microsoft writes in C++/C# (they sell software), Google writes in Python (they are power-users of software).

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I looked it up on the Intergnats!

SaturN

I am working through a book i bought atm, and it told me at the start that i "had" to use, namespace std; in all my codes other wise i have to "declare" it at the start of each line?? Or something like that, i can't fully remember..! Oh well.. Python's a great lingo to learn, If u live in the uk, there's a book store called "Ottakars" i think it's just in the north!! Ain't sure.. But they have some really good python books if u do decide to get in to Python.
Have fun!

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Ooble

Allegedly. Rumour has it they actually write in their own, internal language, which has a variety of special features - not least security, ensuring bugs will crop up at every stage of using the software.

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Me :: You :: Them

uman

Throw away the book and burn it for all eternity in the pits of the stuff-burning apparatus!!!

It's preposterous to assume you need "using namespace std;".

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Cerulean

Tell that to iD software, Monolith Productions (Matrix Online), and CCP (EVE online) just to name a few. They all made industrial use of Python, as have many others.

And you shouldn't, by standards, write "use namespace std" unless you want your compiler to run slower and to clog up the global namespace.