Re: [dev] What is bad with Python

From: Zack Breckenridge <zbrdge_AT_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2014 20:59:43 -0700

All language issues aside, I think one of the things (that others have
touched on here but I'd like to reiterate) that makes something
suckless is fewer dependencies and less version management.

Due to Python's "batteries included" philosophy and the large amount
of 3rd party libraries often used, most code over 30-40 lines tends to
bring with it a lot of dependency and version management issues (pip,
python2 vs python3, virtualenv, etc) that one might not have using a
different language. The more you have to install, the more moving
parts your code has, and the more it tends toward suckage over time.

You'll often hear people talk of AWK and Perl not because of language
issues but because they're likely to be installed on almost any UNIX
or UNIX-like operating system by default.

Also, part of what I interpret as the "suckless philosophy" is
simplicity in implementation as well as in usage. Python is simple to
*use* (by some standards) but simple at the expense of a lot of hidden
underlying complexity. Compare for example, the implementation of
CPython versus say, Lua.

Anyway, just my $.02.

Regards,

Zack
Received on Tue Mar 04 2014 - 04:59:43 CET