68 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
68 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
From: paul at prescod.net (Paul Prescod)
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Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 22:09:09 GMT
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Subject: Python too slow for real world
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References: <372068E6.16A4A90@icrf.icnet.uk>
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<3720A21B.9C62DDB9@icrf.icnet.uk>
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<3720C4DB.7FCF2AE@appliedbiometrics.com>
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<3720C6EE.33CA6494@appliedbiometrics.com>
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<y0jaevznhha.fsf@vier.idi.ntnu.no>
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<glmvhemn4zx.fsf@caffeine.mitre.org>
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<37215EFB.433AFCA6@prescod.net>
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<roy-2404991257450001@mc-as01-p63.med.nyu.edu>
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<3724B2D6.B468687A@prescod.net> <roy-2604991601410001@qwerky.med.nyu.edu>
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Message-ID: <3724E405.5E8ACFD6@prescod.net>
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Content-Length: 2104
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X-UID: 167
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Roy Smith wrote:
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>
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> Paul Prescod <paul at prescod.net> wrote:
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> > It is a performance issue if you don't know that regexps are supposed to
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> > be compiled.
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>
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> I hope this doesn't sound as bad as I fear it might, but part of being a
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> good programmer (or at least a good computer scientist) is to understand
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> performance issues like this.
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No doubt. But Python is not designed to be a programming language
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exclusively for good programmers or computer scientists. As I understand
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the design, it also caters to those that are new programmers and to those
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that don't want to worry about any more details than they absolutely have
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to.
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> If you
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> don't understand that factoring the expensive constant compilation process
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> out of a loop is important to make your program run fast, you aren't a
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> good programmer. No programming language can help that.
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That is absolutely not true. It is, however, a common myth. A programming
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language can have default behaviours that support beginning programmers.
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Python does that in most cases.
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In the last Perl/Python flame war someone used the analogy of clumsiness.
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Sure, a clumsy person could kill themself with a dull knife but that
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doesn't mean that a loaded gun and a dull knife are equally dangerous.
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I'm not promoting any particular language change here. I'm arguing against
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the throw-your-hands-in-the-air-and-expect-programmers-to-be-experts
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argument that is used to shout down any change that makes the language
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easier for non-experts. That's the design philosophy that gives rise to
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other languages that start with P: "You mean you aren't familiar with the
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string interpolation conventions of the C-shell and the input argument
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defaulting of Awk?"
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--
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Paul Prescod - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself
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http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco
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Company spokeswoman Lana Simon stressed that Interactive
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Yoda is not a Furby. Well, not exactly.
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"This is an interactive toy that utilizes Furby technology,"
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Simon said. "It will react to its surroundings and will talk."
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- http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/19222.html
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