Python on the $100 laptop. Very interesting.

posted by Sean 1:41 AM

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I've been reading some Heidegger recently. For no good reason, these popped into my head this a.m. so I'm writing them down before I forget them.

They made me chuckle for a second but then again, maybe I'm just plain odd :-)

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks line a broken referential totality.

Or, veering towards the East:

When all you have is a hammer, you cease to have a hammer.

posted by Sean 12:49 AM

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Fact: most applications are built by combining existing applications and/or existing libraries of code.

Fact: a critical component of programmer productivity is the ability to re-use existing knowledge as well as existing code.

Fact: programming languages - especially general purpose programming languages - are examples of re-usable knowledge.

Intermediate Conclusion:
Having a "glue language" that you can use everywhere you work now and everywhere you might work in the future, from Linux to Windows to Mac to JVM to .NET to System 390 mainframe to Mobile Phone is a honkingly good idea.

Suggestion: A glue language that flows around all your existing libraries and integrates seamlessly with the feature of the local platform is a very, very desirable attribute of a glue language.

Fact: Python (or CPython if you like) runs... well, everywhere.

Fact: Jython does a stunningly good job of seamlessly integrating with the JVM platform.

Fact: Python is becoming so pervasive and so well known that it is now bordering on the (gasp) "safe" categorisation for even the most conservative enterprise application development.
(Newsflash: Python has been a completely safe bet for years now but it has taken time for the news to trickle all the way up.)

Fact: IronPython is now at version 1.0. .NET fans of my acquaintance say it features fall-off-your-chair-type excellence.

Final Conclusion:
I'll leave that up to you.

posted by Sean 12:21 AM

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"Armed with enough options, your application is not only impervious to blame attacks, it is seen as being more powerful to boot. You cannot lose." -- Menu Option Judo

posted by Sean 2:04 AM

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