Talk:Python (programming language)/Archive 9: Difference between revisions

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== Technical tag ==

I just read over the article, and came away mostly baffled. I am reasonably computer literate, and recognize some of the terms in the lead, but came away with only a slightly better understanding of Python than I had before I read it. Someone with more expertise needs to take a shot at making this more readable for the general public. Imagine your mom reading this, your mom who knows how to send and receive emails and can open up a Word document but who has never modified her computer registry or attempted to replace her internal hard drive— she knows there is a difference between a Mac and a PC, but isn't sure what it is. How would you explain Python to ''her'' in a way that would allow her to understand it? That is what this article needs to fix. The multiple links in the lead, etc., are good for obtaining this information, but Mom shouldn't have to click on a bunch of links to understand the basics of this article. Anyhow, someone please think about it. Thanks! [[User:KDS4444|KDS4444]] ([[User talk:KDS4444|talk]]) 23:30, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

:I disagree. I think this is a well-written article about the subject, and the first sentence provides plenty of context. The lead sentence "Python is a widely used high-level programming language for general-purpose programming, created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991." tells anyone what this article is about. Of course the rest of the article becomes more technical, but if you were not into programming one would read the first sentence and then move on. This article is less technical and uses less jargon than similar articles such as [[Java_(programming_language)]], [[C_(programming_language)]] and [[C++]]. [[User:Peterl|peterl]] ([[User talk:Peterl|talk]]) 09:10, 22 August 2017 (UTC)

:I agree the article should be more readable for the general public, and this is also true for other programming language articles. When reading a wikipedia article about a car or a plant, I do not generally find a flow of bombastic jargon terms about the physics inside the engine or some very technical biology stuff. For example, is it really necessary to say "object-oriented, imperative, functional and procedural"? At least it seems non necessary to say it is procedural, this is not a very in-depth information, most useful languages used in engineering (not academia) are procedural; it does not mean so much to me.[[User:Danieldanielcolo|Danieldanielcolo]] ([[User talk:Danieldanielcolo|talk]]) 09:55, 25 February 2018 (UTC)

::Yes, it is necessary to say "object-oriented, imperative, functional and procedural". These are different programming paradigms, and not all procedural languages have these other styles. So it's quite relevant. [[User:Peterl|peterl]] ([[User talk:Peterl|talk]]) 08:24, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

I disagree as well. I only started a little while ago,and I think I've gotten the hang of it. Here are some reasons I think it's good:

1.It has "batteries included". That means it comes with everything you need to get started.

2.It has good documentation.

There is a pretty big online community,

and the download comes with a help program.

There are also lots of books.

3.Good for beginners. Python is easy to learn,but very powerful.

I think you should try. [[User:CrazyMinecart88|CrazyMinecart88]] ([[User talk:CrazyMinecart88|talk]]) 19:09, 25 February 2018 (UTC)

== "fewer lines of code" in lead? ==

The lead says, "''and a syntax that allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code''". Should that be removed? I have two problems. One, fewer than what (it says fewer than C or Java, but that's not saying much because they're small languages)? And two, it's not my experience anyway: compared to some languages (e.g. Perl, Matlab), I'd say Python is more verbose but also more readable. And it's not what I'd call a defining feature of python. [[User:Adpete|Adpete]] ([[User talk:Adpete|talk]]) 01:36, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

:OK, I'm removing it. [[User:Adpete|Adpete]] ([[User talk:Adpete|talk]]) 02:02, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I disagree. It says (said) "express *concepts* in fewer lines of code. Trying to create a hash map of linked lists in C requires an enormous number of LOC (assuming one statement = one line). I ''would'' consider the syntax a defining characteristic of the language. The statement was well ref'd, so I'd like it back in. [[User:Peterl|peterl]] ([[User talk:Peterl|talk]]) 03:27, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

:Well I think you'd struggle to find a language which is less verbose than C for creating a linked list. But for the sentence to belong in the lead (let alone the first paragraph), Python should be less verbose than all, or nearly all, other languages. One ref says it is less verbose than C or Java (but I suspect that is also true for most other languages), and the other has a table showing 1/(lines of code): C 1, C++ 2.5, Fortran 2, Java 2.5, Visual Basic 4.5, Python Perl and Smalltalk all 6. So it's ahead of some pretty small languages, and equal with Perl and Smalltalk - nothing special. And it's from studies done in 1998-2000, so out of date. [[User:Adpete|Adpete]] ([[User talk:Adpete|talk]]) 06:05, 21 March 2018 (UTC)