ekt_bear: @megaplaza:

The Java programmer is actually pretty good imo. Like, in this group, it wasn't as if any of us are much better/worse programmers than the other...all approximately equally talented at programming.

my point is that the feature you need in a language might be available but because you are not aware of it, once you see another language with that feature, you will say ok this (the new one) is better. So maybe he doesnt know about Java statistics api/numerical lib that can be used to perform intense numeric computation

I am interested in learning Python. What do I need to download?

megaplaza: my point is that the feature you need in a language might be available but because you are not aware of it, once you see another language with that feature, you will say ok this (the new one) is better. So maybe he doesnt know about Java statistics api/numerical lib that can be used to perform intense numeric computation

Again, he isn't an id1ot. He looked around, googled around for tools to use. My point is, those tools don't allow you to get your work done as efficiently as tools better suited for rapid development.

A language's functionality usually depends on programming skills level and its implementation (its ability to do what u want it to do efficiently). Its a relative thing depending on who you talk to; java, ruby,C++,C, perl or phyton programmer. The web content below ranks programming languages using usage and visibility stats from internet sources. The original link to the content below: http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html

TIOBE Programming Community Index for April 2012

The TIOBE Programming Community index is an indicator of the popularity of programming languages. The index is updated once a month. The ratings are based on the number of skilled engineers world-wide, courses and third party vendors. The popular search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube and Baidu are used to calculate the ratings. Observe that the TIOBE index is not about the best programming language or the language in which most lines of code have been written.

The index can be used to check whether your programming skills are still up to date or to make a strategic decision about what programming language should be adopted when starting to build a new software system.

gentleoyink: I am interested in learning Python. What do I need to download?

Take a look at this thread here: https://www.nairaland.com/894090/help-request-help-java-download#10409951

Do not mind the title, just read it to the end.

Have an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of as many good languages as possible and use what gets the job done. I have a good JAVA background and a solid PHP background but I have stopped thinking of solutions to my problems in PHP or Java. When there is a problem now I think of the programmatic solutions and pick the language that solves it best. If its a language I dont know I just have to add 2 weeks to the total completion time in the proposal. There's no language I cant kick-start from novice to intermediate within 2 weeks and I expect this to apply to every programmer.

One area python beats php is rapid prototyping. You get an idea of a small program(one function) start up the python interpreter and boom you know your answer.

I'm not arguing for Python over PHP, Ruby, Java, C, C++ for all applications, mind you.

If you want to write websites, pretty much any of the major scripting languages are solid choices (though personally I prefer Ruby for this.)

If you want to write low-level systems software, then you have to use C or C++.

If you want to prototype algorithms or math software, in my opinion the best choices are Matlab or Python.

If you need the ability to run your applications on any type of system but higher performance than scripting languages, go for Java.

So it really 100% depends on what type of application you are doing.

...jeez...am an anspiring programmer only in my first year in school studying comp sc...i must say that i am pretty impress by all d jargons i see here.. it kinda boosts my morale and love for programming and programmers!

python can be used to develop phone apps PHP cant.
But python is the chief priest, PHP is the god!

A-ZeD:
One area python beats php is rapid prototyping. You get an idea of a small program(one function) start up the python interpreter and boom you know your answer.

php does that too

Whose man enough to program MCUs or FPGAs ?
When it comes to low level embedded devices, all this languages fade away leaving C or C++ behind

5 to 10 years from now, it wont matter to me and you which language brought you the X( glory, money, fame, girls or whatever it is you are chasing). All that would matter is what you have achieved.

Its cool to fall in love with your tools but not cool to love them to the detriment of your effectiveness/long-term success.

SNCOQ3: Whose man enough to program MCUs or FPGAs ?
When it comes to low level embedded devices, all this languages fade away leaving C or C++ behind

That's like asking carpentars and plumbers who's man enough to divide a PVC pipe and then you see the carpentars withdrawing with their hammer leaving the stage for the plumbers and their arc saws and then you say the carpenters fade away. Whats a carpenter's business with cutting PVC pipes with a hammer?

kodewrita: 5 to 10 years from now, it wont matter to me and you which language brought you the X( glory, money, fame, girls or whatever it is you are chasing). All that would matter is what you have achieved.

Its cool to fall in love with your tools but not cool to love them to the detriment of your effectiveness/long-term success.

Well said.

Keep it up guys. I love this sorta threads. Another question you should ask is this:

In the Nigerian Market, which one is more lucrative between PHP and Python. We need to code but should not go hungry doing so.

Dual Core:

That's like asking carpentars and plumbers who's man enough to divide a PVC pipe and then you see the carpentars withdrawing with their hammer leaving the stage for the plumbers and their arc saws and then you say the carpenters fade away. Whats a carpenter's business with cutting PVC pipes with a hammer?

Dude, that line was meant to be a light joke. Just bringing hardware programming to the fore which apparently, is a much ignored subject in Nairaland. Don't lose you sense of humor.

Programming an embedded device once in a month keeps the cold away

haha, thread already escalated!

@OP i am not going to try to convince you instead state my own experience.
I use PHP, Java and Python

from my experience with all 3, i "believe" python has no match.
I am yet to use python on the web but i can see right through why Seun is a python enthusiast.

This is fact and true, Python gets the job done, faster and efficiently.

in java, to print a word, you will have to

public class HelloWorld
{
public static void main (String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Hello, world!";
}
}

in python

print("Hello, world!"

I worked on a project recently where i had to do python and Java side by side,
I can recollect going back to declare variables before using them in java whereas in python, i can use a new variable on the fly, no object casting like you have to do every time you fetch an object in ArrayList and other containers in java.

I read someone said python aint clean, Please go and learn it.
It is so clean, it looks like an art work, Most of what you do in python will fit in your head easily

in python your code MUST looks like this

################################################
################################################
################################################
################################################
_____##########
________################################################
________##############################################
________##############################################
_____#########
________##############################################
________##############################################
________##############################################

in java, you are permitted to code like this, like a mad man

##########
############### ###############
################
########## ################## ######## ###########
### # ##### ############################ ###############
## # # ##########
########### ##### ##### #####
##### ##### ##### ####
### ########### #####
#####

#
##
###########

in python, i can have more than 1 class in a single file, unlike java where you Must create a new file for a new class
the beauty is this, you can have 4 or five small cool classes in a file tucked somewhere, just import that file and you are good to go
very good when developing a large application with several classes


you cant get all am saying until you try python out.
If you dont intend to stop coding in your current language, then dont try this cos you wont go back.

*dhtml:
Keep it up guys. I love this sorta threads. Another question you should ask is this:

In the Nigerian Market, which one is more lucrative between PHP and Python. We need to code but should not go hungry doing so.

Based on my experience as a business owner, clients don't care about "PHP and Python". They just want a finished product that works for them. If it meets their need, they'll pay for it.

#############################################
_______##
____________###########################
__________________##############################
____________###########
_______###
#######################

@webdezzi My code in both Java or PHP generally looks like that though. All you have to do is look down to know who the 'children' and 'grandchildren' blocks of code are.

kodewrita:

@webdezzi My code in both Java or PHP generally looks like that though. All you have to do is look down to know who the 'children' and 'grandchildren' blocks of code are.

lol. did you mean look down or scroll down?
but i bet you haven't met programmers who will kill ur drive with their coding style.

I suppose if you prefer speed of production over performance speed you can always use python... But hey... The boost C++ library provides a wrapper class that lets you expose python objects to your C++ code. So, I guess I will let C++ be my main Man and make python my b*tch that does all the unwanted work..

I guess my own perspective is different.

We had a bunch of ideas we wanted to try. Didn't know a priori which (if any) of them are any good.

So we needed to QUICKLY get code up to run experiments and figure out which algorithms work well. So we couldn't invest enormous amounts of time in a super-fast C++ or C implementation of each...after all, you could sink in a bunch of time and then find out that the algorithm performs terribly on the data set of interest.

You sort of see the point?

If you are coming across a new problem for which there isn't a textbook answer or something already in a library and you need to quickly get a sense of what works well and what doesn't, then in my opinion, use a scripting language like Python.

Once you are sure that your idea works and it can/will make you rich, you can then hire a C++ guy to implement a fast version of it anyways

I find this thread very interesting, i've been in this dilemma too (thanks to seun), the answers here are still not satisfying, what does seun (a.k.a. pro python) have to add to this?

@OP, what is the meaning of PHP? Just curious

ekt_bear: I guess my own perspective is different.

We had a bunch of ideas we wanted to try. Didn't know a priori which (if any) of them are any good.

So we needed to QUICKLY get code up to run experiments and figure out which algorithms work well. So we couldn't invest enormous amounts of time in a super-fast C++ or C implementation of each...after all, you could sink in a bunch of time and then find out that the algorithm performs terribly on the data set of interest.

You sort of see the point?

If you are coming across a new problem for which there isn't a textbook answer or something already in a library and you need to quickly get a sense of what works well and what doesn't, then in my opinion, use a scripting language like Python.

Once you are sure that your idea works and it can/will make you rich, you can then hire a C++ guy to implement a fast version of it anyways

I do understand your point but then... Any scripting language can do this. Yes?

moderattor:
php does that too

So far, i've not run any php code without starting up the browser


Python Php
1) start python interpreter(idle) 1)start IDE for php
2) Write code 2) Write code
3)See result immediately in idle 3)Run code
4)Wait for browser to start
5)see result

lordZOUGA:
I do understand your point but then... Any scripting language can do this. Yes?

Any one which has good libraries available for whatever application area you are investigating so you don't have to waste your time reinventing the wheel or fighting some poorly written or documented library, yes.

moderattor: python can be used to develop phone apps PHP cant.
But python is the chief priest, PHP is the god!

lol are you trying to say that Python serves PHP.

A-ZeD:

So far, i've not run any php code without starting up the browser


Python Php
1) start python interpreter(idle) 1)start IDE for php
2) Write code 2) Write code
3)See result immediately in idle 3)Run code
4)Wait for browser to start
5)see result

i can remember back in 2007 when , i installed PHP not with wampserver though php installer from php.net, you can write php codes from command prompt, it runs and displays result immediately i think with cmd>php echo 'hello word', press enter so get your facts right. If you develop a python web app shey you do test it at ur cmd prompt?

Python and PHP are two powerful scripting languages. Python was Developed by a mathematician so the language is structured logically. PHP was developed when the need arose to create dynamic web pages as quickly as possible and it continues to excel in this direction. PHP developers slogan is to Keep things Simple Stupid (KISS) Methodology. If you want to enjoy PHP Programming try using a framework like Codeigniter (That is after knowing the basics). Python programing is quite simple but it is more difficult to built a web app from scratch with python than with PHP. Knowing python means you can apply your scripting skills in other applications like Inkscape, Gimp, Blender and the list continues. There is nothing wrong knowing both programing languages, but if ur priority is web development you may startup faster with PHP, You can be brought to speed with Python Web Development using frameworks like Django or Turbo Gears. Please note that programing languages are more like personal preference just like Dress Sense. Good Luck making ur choice

mikron: @OP, what is the meaning of PHP? Just curious

you can google it, hypertext preprocessor which in my own understanding was meant to preprocess html pages before serving. I dont think python beats PHP in terms of web development. Because PHP was built for this, try coding web app without python framework and try coding PHP web app without framework, you will understand.

broswilli: Python and PHP are two powerful scripting languages. Python was Developed by a mathematician so the language is structured logically. PHP was developed when the need arose to create dynamic web pages as quickly as possible and it continues to excel in this direction. PHP developers slogan is to Keep things Simple Stupid (KISS) Methodology. If you want to enjoy PHP Programming try using a framework like Codeigniter (That is after knowing the basics). Python programing is quite simple but it is more difficult to built a web app from scratch with python than with PHP. Knowing python means you can apply your scripting skills in other applications like Inkscape, Gimp, Blender and the list continues. There is nothing wrong knowing both programing languages, but if ur priority is web development you may startup faster with PHP, You can be brought to speed with Python Web Development using frameworks like Django or Turbo Gears. Please note that programing languages are more like personal preference just like Dress Sense. Good Luck making ur choice

Nice comment, i started this post because once newbies come here and ask which programming language should i learn people start sayin python, python, python. So i wanted them to prove their point. I remember back in 2004 when i was about to learn programming, my mentor was an egyptian .NET programmer. He didn't say learn C#.net or Java. He gave me the pros and cons, etc solid reasons without sentiment and i went for Java.