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  3. Is Python slowly losing its charm?

Is Python slowly losing its charm?

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  • T tronderen

    Yeah, there are project groups in our organization that make similar claims. Still, I beg to disagree. Although it may be "possible" to use a given tool, doesn't mean it is suitable. Disclaimer: I know nothing about Lua. From skimming trhough the Wikipedia description, I am sort of curious to hear the reasons for choosing Lua for complex problem solutions over other alternatives.

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    CPallini
    wrote on last edited by
    #23

    Lua is easily embedded in a C/C++ application, and that works also in the opposite direction, it is easily extensible using C/C++ libraries. So, my first plan was to embed Lua in a C++ application (and write numerous C libraries for low level tasks). Eventually, I found no real need for the C++ code.

    "In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?" -- Rigoletto

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    • S swampwiz

      https://towardsdatascience.com/python-is-slowly-losing-its-charm-9ca652726492[^] my opinion: To me, it's always seemed like a toy language like BASIC.

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      RedDk
      wrote on last edited by
      #24

      Pythons have no shoulders ... so we know the loss of charm is not due to it's tee shirt needing a change, right? (sorry, walked by a corner selling designer-pattern-printed neck/chin tubes yesterday and couldn't resist)

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      • S Slacker007

        CPallini wrote:

        Python is not a toy language

        Agreed, its not, and it is very powerful and versatile language, etc. I personally have no need for it in my personal software projects or work projects. I hear it is a great language for data analysis, etc.

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        Nelek
        wrote on last edited by
        #25

        Slacker007 wrote:

        I hear it is a great language for data analysis, etc.

        I know a couple of people using it for big data and similars and they just say it is the best, I have never used it though so I can only say what I was told.

        M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

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        • S swampwiz

          https://towardsdatascience.com/python-is-slowly-losing-its-charm-9ca652726492[^] my opinion: To me, it's always seemed like a toy language like BASIC.

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          Kolya Ivankov
          wrote on last edited by
          #26

          I see many people out there having little idea about python and saying that they know it's good for data science. Here's my 5 cent as a data scientist. Python has some well-developed libraries for data science. Those libraries, like pytorch, are written in C++, and are indeed easy to use via pyton. That being said, I started developing in pyton for a single reason that my younger colleagues didn't know other languages, and I needed to both have common ground with them and also to show that I am at least just as capable as they are on this ground. Those colleagues were at odds with understanding strongly typed language syntax, btw. This, in my opinion, creates a vicious cycle. With more and more - and, hence, less and less qualified - human resources being pumped in the hot field of AI, those need to be trained fast on the most entry-level language possible, allowing for neural networks and stuff. For now it's python here. As more and more people in AI are now python exclusive, qualified developers focus more at delivering AI libraries for python. Remember, those people often have trouble understanding the difference between a class and an object, so strong typization is a burden for them. Whereas I, used to work with demanding projects and trained in pure math, ended up strongly typing in python (which it allows for), otherwise loosing track. On top of that, Microsoft screwed up with its C#-compatible CNTK library, dispersed its effort to include python support again, lost miserably to other libraries, and that's the last I've heard of it. In Java, there is a pretty neat and viable alternative library Deeplearning4j that does all - well, most - things python libraries do, has neat syntax, uses Java 8, and is overall pretty satisfying. I prefer workig in it even though in general I despise Java for multiple reasons. I actually believe Deeplearning4j is one of the few reasons to like Java for.

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          • S swampwiz

            https://towardsdatascience.com/python-is-slowly-losing-its-charm-9ca652726492[^] my opinion: To me, it's always seemed like a toy language like BASIC.

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            Martin ISDN
            wrote on last edited by
            #27

            when compared to Julia any language does have its share of disadvantages

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            • D Dan Neely

              Slacker007 wrote:

              This goes back to a post I made a few days ago, where I said that the world is throwing technology at everyone, hoping many become programmers, engineers, etc. Python was supposed to be the language for the masses. Only problem is, the masses don't like programming.

              So were Basic, SQL, and COBOL at times in the past. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was.

              Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies. -- Sarah Hoyt

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              Carl_Sharman
              wrote on last edited by
              #28

              And you may ask yourself: "Well, how did I get here?"

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              • S swampwiz

                So you are saying that Python is the new BASIC.

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                Peter Adam
                wrote on last edited by
                #29

                No, it is worse. It's syntax is C infested.

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                • C CPallini

                  In my opinion Python is not a toy language (and even BASIC wasn't). That said, Python is far better than BASIC (and Lua is even better than Pyhton). Scripting languages have their usage.

                  "In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?" -- Rigoletto

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                  Peter Adam
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #30

                  For a starter, Python is advocaded for sci and eco. But it has no fixed point datatype. So sci and eco learned what takes eons for prog, still delivering bugs months after using the delivered software. 0.5 + 0.5 = x is a hard to solve equation.

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                  • C Carl_Sharman

                    And you may ask yourself: "Well, how did I get here?"

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                    glennPattonWork3
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #31

                    I'm not the only one to think 'Talking Heads' then...

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                    • S swampwiz

                      https://towardsdatascience.com/python-is-slowly-losing-its-charm-9ca652726492[^] my opinion: To me, it's always seemed like a toy language like BASIC.

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                      Shawn_Eary
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #32

                      I prefer Haskell, but I haven't been able to use it much lately.

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                      • R raddevus

                        Why I Start Python then always Stop I like a lot of programming languages. C# is my favorite, but I like C++, Pascal, C, Java, Kotlin (more & more all the time), even Swift (very Kotlin-like), TypeScript and I also like JavaScript -- even though it has a lot of annoying things like === etc. I try to like Python, I really do. But there are a number of reasons that every time I start using it again I stop. 3) whitespace dependent. I've hurt myself with this where code fails due to having a tab where I should have 3 spaces or vice-versa. It's annoying. Just use some friggin' brackets. 2) global variables in file. If you define a variable in a file it is global to every function in that file. What!?! Yep. It's painful and confusing and a bad idea. 1) But the number one, knock-down, all-time biggest reason I just can't get past it is the use of double-underscores. X| Yes, I'm a syntax snob. :-\ It's just the ugliest syntax ever and I don't want to type underscores all the time! It's so ugly to look at Python code. Here's a sample from official documentation:

                        class Mapping:
                        def __init__(self, iterable):
                        self.items_list = []
                        self.__update(iterable)

                        def update(self, iterable):
                            for item in iterable:
                                self.items\_list.append(item)
                        
                        \_\_update = update   # private copy of original update() method
                        

                        It's so ugly, so I just stop Python as soon as possible and go back to one of the good languages. I was also wondering why Van Rossum (creator of Python) used underscores so much and there are some good explanations in this post. But there is no excuse, because other modern languages have not had to use characters like that. Why does python use two underscores for certain things? - Stack Overflow[^]

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                        Peter R Fletcher
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #33

                        On global variables in Python: it is misleading to say, without qualification: "If you define a variable in a file it is global to every function in that file." It is true that if you define and/or use a variable outside a function, it becomes globally visible to 'subsequent' code within the file. It is, however, treated as read-only outside its original scope unless it is specifically declared as global within a function definition. I can see that even the read-only visibility of such variables may be offensive to those to whom the thought of global variables is anathema, but I do not find it so.

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                        • G glennPattonWork3

                          I'm not the only one to think 'Talking Heads' then...

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                          Carl_Sharman
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #34

                          I'm glad I'm not alone in that :)

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                          • P Peter Adam

                            No, it is worse. It's syntax is C infested.

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                            Kirk 10389821
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #35

                            I resent that... I love the C syntax. I might be biased because I learned Macro-11 Assembly before C, and there is a one to one mapping on most C statements.

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                            • C CPallini

                              In my opinion Python is not a toy language (and even BASIC wasn't). That said, Python is far better than BASIC (and Lua is even better than Pyhton). Scripting languages have their usage.

                              "In testa che avete, Signor di Ceprano?" -- Rigoletto

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                              Kirk 10389821
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #36

                              to get a fixed block read of block X. You declared the block size when you opened the file. We used this for lightning fast Hash Lookups. Extensible? We had to modify the OS to add "sys" calls to a jump table. But we could do it. Now, BASIC allowed DLL calling in windows. And Python allows wrappers of compiled code. Finally, to me the MOST POWERFUL piece of an interpreted language is the ability to EMBED it as a scripting language inside of an Application to let the end users extend it. I wrote applications inside of Word and Excel for people. It broke my heart when I went to embed VBA inside of my application, and ran into MSFT Licensing (OMG Draconian). So we used a different scripting engine that was free and based on Pascal. It worked... But I would have loved for the product to have the Power and Libraries of Python!

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                              • S swampwiz

                                https://towardsdatascience.com/python-is-slowly-losing-its-charm-9ca652726492[^] my opinion: To me, it's always seemed like a toy language like BASIC.

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                                NightPen
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #37

                                Unity used to have boo a python scripting language. No one used it though as Unity also had C#. Me personally I prefer C#.

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                                • K Kirk 10389821

                                  I resent that... I love the C syntax. I might be biased because I learned Macro-11 Assembly before C, and there is a one to one mapping on most C statements.

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                                  Peter Adam
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #38

                                  They come out of Math class where = means equality, go to the next class, in gentle Python = means let be equal...

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                                  • P Peter R Fletcher

                                    On global variables in Python: it is misleading to say, without qualification: "If you define a variable in a file it is global to every function in that file." It is true that if you define and/or use a variable outside a function, it becomes globally visible to 'subsequent' code within the file. It is, however, treated as read-only outside its original scope unless it is specifically declared as global within a function definition. I can see that even the read-only visibility of such variables may be offensive to those to whom the thought of global variables is anathema, but I do not find it so.

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                                    Peter Adam
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #39

                                    So, in short, it is the Python way of the singleton pattern?

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                                    • N NightPen

                                      Unity used to have boo a python scripting language. No one used it though as Unity also had C#. Me personally I prefer C#.

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                                      Kolya Ivankov
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #40

                                      Blender uses python to script its objects. But I for now use Godot since they've included a whole C# support.

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                                      • T tronderen

                                        CPallini wrote:

                                        Scripting languages have their usage.

                                        Let us limit them to that. The thing is that lots of people live with the misconception that Python is suitable for general problem solving, of arbitrarily complex problems. Scripting languages are meant for scripts, for managing a process (such as the building of a software system). It startet with Job Control Languages, developed into Unix sh and all its derivatives, or .bat files developed into PowerShell. You may see scripting languages such as Python as a further developments of shell concepts. You would never try to solve a complex problem as neither a bash nor PowerShell script. Even with further development of those concepts into Python (and its functional relatives), scripting languages are not suitable for complex problem solving.

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                                        User 9154661
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #41

                                        > Python (and its functional relatives), scripting languages are not suitable for complex problem solving. what a ridiculous remark python is used all the time for statistics and machine learning of course it can be used for general problem solving and it can be used for much more that just scripts Blender uses python Django and Flask are python frameworks for web development just read how netflix uses python https://netflixtechblog.com/python-at-netflix-bba45dae649e and they aren't the only big company using python for more than just scripting

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                                        • 5 5teveH

                                          There are so many 'articles' these days predicting the rise/fall of pretty much anything. Most are just 'click bait' and I think this is one of them. I don't use Python, (and I'm not a big fan), but I seriously doubt that it's in decline.

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                                          Kolya Ivankov
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #42

                                          The article doesn't predict Python's downfall either. Just being a bit critical about unhindered further proliferation as prophesied by python fans.

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