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Why Python is like BASIC (and why this is a good thing)

Gillou nospam at bigfoot.com
Fri Feb 15 17:49:44 EST 2002 
>
> * No need to declare variables. Use them and they are immediately
>   created for you, ex nihilo.

You declare types in Basic (the Dim statement of VB and/or as var name
suffix)

>
> * NO LINE NUMBERS! Enough said.
...
>   IF condition GOSUB line-number (I never did understand the necessity
>   for that kind of statement until well after I'd stopped using BASIC
>   entirely and moved to more "modern" languages like... Pascal).

Only old men like you and me remember this

>
> * Batteries included. This is the big one, which makes Python more than
>   just a toy language suitable for learning. The richness of the
>   standard library makes Python incredibly useful, and I for one would
>   like to see it continue to grow. I understand the concern that people
>   developing Python-based programs for distribution would like their
>   users to be able to run a 100k script without downloading a 10M
>   distribution, but I don't want to see that cause a reduction in the
>   standard library. Instead, we could make make two Python
>   distributions, a "full" install containing everything and a "lite"
>   install containing only the interpreter and maybe -- *maybe* -- a
>   couple of essential modules like os and sys. Then people developing
>   Python programs like, say, a pygame-based game, could distribute a
>   single package containing the "Python lite" distribution, their own
>   code, and any other modules their code depended on -- all in one
>   easy-for-the-end-used-to-install package.

And when downloading another one he gets the python interpreter again, and a
new copy of some packages...
No, Python deserves a dedicated RPMfind  like utility that manages
dependencies (OS, python version, required modules...).
This would be a really great extension for distutils.

>
> Anyhow, I hope this helps develop some ideas.
>
> --
> Robin Munn
> rmunn at pobox.com
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