Python Syntax Influencing New Languages
To this day C++ is the language I have programmed the longest in (although my Python experience is catching up fast), and at some point I even thought it would be the only programming language I would ever need and use. I actively stayed away from Python, mainly because I had heard about the forced indentation and having had bad experiences with Fortran before. But within two weeks after being forced to use Python I was sold. The Python syntax is definitely one of the attractions. So even though Python itself hasn’t (yet) taken over the world of programming languages, I am happy to see Python influencing new languages.
A while back jj pointed out Reia, which is a language for the Erlang virtual machine. The syntax looks a lot like Python’s, which almost makes me want to play with it. (The concepts of Erlang make it really attractive with the multicore architectures and all, but just reading the Wikipedia article on Erlang made my head hurt because of the syntax.)
Today I was reading about Delight, which is a Python-like syntax for the D programming language. (This is kind of ironic, because D is the nicer C++.) I can’t say I am sold on all of the ideas of Delight, but I do welcome any attempts to make other programming languages more Pythonic in syntax if nothing else.
Not that long time ago languages marketed themselves by having C-like syntax to make it easier to switch. I am wondering if Python is becoming the new C in that respect.
Anon:
> C++ is the language I have programmed the longest in (although Python is catching up fast)
eh?
September 25, 2008, 12:56 amjason:
There’s also the reigning king of pythonic languages, Boo, which targets .NET CLR/Mono.
http://boo.codehaus.org/
It doesn’t make an appearance on your “List of languages I’ve used” blog entry (http://www.heikkitoivonen.net/blog/2008/08/06/list-of-programming-languages-i-have-used/), so I figured I’d mention it. It’s actually very interesting; it’s essentially Python + Static Typing + Type Inference + a ‘Duck’ type. It’s also targetting the CLR which probably gives it the most available libraries of the pythonic langs mentioned.
September 25, 2008, 6:01 amTomas:
You’ve also got the Cobra programming language which is looking interesting.
September 25, 2008, 7:21 amDavid:
Ah, I see you have used the dreaded “news headline gerund” in your article title. Many native English speakers get somewhat edgy when they see or hear phrases like “Russia pressing free trade agreement” even though news anchors absolutely *adore* the form. There is more than one way to align your title with the most persnickety of English speakers; one option is “Python Syntax is Influencing New Languages”
HTH
September 25, 2008, 1:32 pmHeikki Toivonen:
@Anon: I changed the wording to “(although my Python experience is catching up fast)” which is hopefully clearer.
@David: Interesting, I wasn’t aware of that. I’ll try to pay attention to that in the future. Thanks for the info.
September 25, 2008, 6:21 pmGautier:
If only I had the (free) time, I would make a delight clone, but using C++ instead of D…
September 16, 2009, 5:30 amJulie Jones:
Interesting observation. I have been keeping up with progress on D and noticed that many of the semantics of python have been added. I am guessing that it is just a case of the newer building on the older, but I really like it!
September 18, 2009, 3:44 pm