Comment by musingsole

3 years ago

If Python isn't simple, which of the dominantly used programming languages is?

Simpler than Python? Definitely Go. Probably Java and JavaScript. Maybe even C, although the whole "undefined behaviour" thing is a different kind of complexity.

I'd consider the complexity of Python comparable to that of C# and Swift - it's a similar "kitchen sink" language.

C++, of course, is in a league of its own.

  • Java and C are neither simpler nor easier than Python where the rubber meets the road: making the computer do something you want it to do. Not even close. Java requires a fair amount of arcana just to get started (relative to python) and C is a simple language which pushes all the complexity onto the programmer. Java, like python, has some really deep rabbit holes when you dig into internals, and C has so much complexity in the necessary tooling.

    I think Go is possibly simpler than Python. The syntax is smaller, no method overriding, and does not really have internals to the same depth as a VM language.

  • In what world java is easier than python?

    Doing an ssl connection in java is a daunting task

    • Not easier, simpler. There are many things that are very easy to do in python, but the language itself is far from simple. However you only need to know maybe 20% of python to start being productive.

      That being said, I'm not convinced Java is actually simpler.

Matlab is pretty simple. I've taught it to kids with no programming experience in the morning, and they were productive with it by the end of the day.