Magical thinking in Software Development

http://wrongsideofmemphis.wordpress.com/2012/11/16/magical-thinking-in-software-development/

by prez • 14 years ago

3 7 14 years ago

wrongsideofmemphis.wordpress.com

lutusp2• 14 years ago

An important point missing from this article is that Python speed can be measured in two distinct ways -- how fast the code runs, and how fast the code gets written.

If a program needs to be up and running yesterday, then the fact that it's not as fast as C/C++ may not actually matter.

I think this issue should be mentioned more often in discussions of execution speed -- the time required to write the code in the first place. For that, Python excels.

mercurial2• 14 years ago

All these measurements should be considered in the same light: what is the projected TCO of the software? And this includes a number of metrics:

- programmer productivity

- hardware costs

- speed

- flexibility

- ease of maintenance

- barrier of entry

- interop with other software

How easy will it be to maintain the software in ten years? Wrt to Python, it's a fantastic language, but I've become scared of large codebases in dynamic languages.

lutusp2• 14 years ago

> I've become scared of large codebases in dynamic languages.

Fair enough. It seems to me that if an application has high performance demands and is expected to be in service for years, it should eventually be rewritten in a faster language. I find myself designing/developing programs in Python because development is so fast, then rewriting the result in a faster language after the design phase is over.

The rewriting phase is basically a translation, not a redesign. In most cases I know exactly how the program should behave, so there's no design taking place.

jaimebuelta3• 14 years ago

Article author here:

Yes, you are absolutely right that this is a very valid metric to use when dealing with development. I'm not sure that it is not discussed, though. Usually people talks about "language productivity"

And yes, Python exceeds at that ;-)

Magical thinking in Software Development

Related Stories