Re: python, then C++, or C++ from the start?
On Wed, 30 May 2007 17:34:10 +0200
martin f krafft <madduck@debian.org> wrote:
> But I am asking you still: can you think of anything to say against
> such an approach? Please don't flame languages or anything of that
> sort. The question is just: is it viable for a C++ coder with
> a Python proficiency to mockup a new application in Python first?
Planning to write the application twice seems to me to presume more
time and continued enthusiasm than is perhaps realistic, especially
since your plans seem fairly ambitious---having to slog through the
last 10% of the application not once but twice seems masochistic.
Also, for the transition from the python to C/C++ versions to be smooth
enough to not penalize early adopters, it seems to me that they would
both have to have comprehensive test suites, otherwise you risk having
small incompatibilities. Again, everyone's least favorite bits, done
twice.
It seems to me like your chances of real success would be greater if
you wrote it once in Python---which will be much more productive than
any C/C++---and then spent the time you would have spent rewriting it in
C/C++ lobbying to get python in base, which would probably make a lot
of other people very happy.
For that matter, figure out what other perl dependencies there are in
base, rewrite them all in python so that perl could be dropped from
base (as a way to bolster your argument) and you'll still probably be
done before you would writing the app twice.
Mike.
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