[Discuss] Interpreters vs Compilers

[Deryk Barker]

John Blomfield wrote:
> Adam Parkin wrote:
>> Alan W. Irwin wrote:
>>> I enjoyed your talk, John.  There was something for everybody there, 
>>> but
>>> unfortunately those who as yet have not programmed at all were (AFAICT)
>>> underrepresented in the audience.  I recommend you make the 
>>> presentation
>>> available on our website so those who missed the talk can benefit.
>>
>> I unfortunately had to miss the presentation so I'd second the motion 
>> that any notes/slides/etc be posted as I'd be very interested in 
>> seeing them.
>>
>> As for the difference between interpreters and compilers, just to be 
>> a bit of a devils advocate: the fact that we can't find an 
>> interpreter that interprets as fast as a compiled language doesn't 
>> necessarily imply that one does not (or can not) exist. :p
>>
>> This is why I'm not so much of a fan of "speed" benchmarks which are 
>> usually fairly artificial.  It could just be that Larry Wall (Perl) 
>> and Guido van Rossum (Python) are poor coders.
>>
>> Now if that last statement doesn't start a flame war, nothing will. :p
> This is a very intriguing topic I only wish I new more about it.  I 
> can speculate however using the knowledge I have. A little knowledge 
> can be a dangerous thing! I can use C and C++ fairly effectively after 
> a few years of practice and I am studying Python to see if can be of 
> use to my projects.  One significant difference which may have a 
> bearing on this topic is that C++ and Python handle polymorphism in 
> different ways.  C and C++ are strongly typed languages whereas Python 
> automatically changes the type definition of variables according the 
> objects they point to.  
You are comparing two orthogonal concepts: strong vs. weak (vs. no) 
typing and static vs dynamic typing.

LISP is dynamically and weakly typed. Most 3GLs are weakly- or 
strongly-  and statically typed.

C BTW is usually considered a weakly typed language - think of the 
confusion between a char and a short int.
....
>
> I can see that Python can provide me with some useful "glue" but as 
> yet I am uncomfortable with having variables change there type without 
> me necessarily being warned that they have.  
How on earth could you be "warned"?
> Most of the features that in Python are built types are available as 
> library classes and templates in C++ and in general seem much more 
> varied and powerful but I can see that for someone who has only used 
> C, Python is very appealing since C libraries are not as easy to use.
C++ is an ugly, ugly language and is neither more varied (whatever that 
might mean) nor more powerful than python.

Getting away from C++ syntax (templates, operator overloading anyone?) 
seems an eminently sound reason for using another language.

> I must pluck up courage and have another go at learning Perl.  I have 
> in the past read several chapters of a Perl book but found the 
> language very arcane and one that delights in obfuscation.  I can 
> usually make some sort of sense out of most code even in languages 
> that I don't know but Perl programmers seem to delight in seeing how 
> many different obscure ways they can write a simple statement and get 
> a hundred operations all on one line.  Not for someone that believes 
> in the KISS principle.
Why perl rather than python? You gain nothing and you lose a lot - 
readability for one. I object in principal to a language that makes me 
memorise the top row of the keyboard, shifted...