"Simple" Languages in FreeBSD

[Dean E. Weimer]

On 2016-07-01 4:09 pm, doug at safeport.com wrote:
> I am only responding to a very small part of this thread. Back in the
> day I used machine language, basic, fortran, algol (forced as I
> maintained a compiler), snobol, and lisp (which I never really got the
> hang of).
> 
> In my unix life I use sh, perl, and python. Perl is kind of like
> snobol, both had/have contests where the goal is either: I can do it
> with less statements, or bet you can't figure out what this does.
> 
> At the end of the day if you like trying stuff and want/need an object
> oriented language ruby and python seem good, I bypassed ruby for no
> good reason. My problem with perl is when I go back to look at a
> script I wrote 2+ months ago my ability to figure it out is inversely
> proportional to how far I have strayed from having it look like C. So
> far in python I can go back and extend or modify things. This is
> clearly just me but it is is line with the general nature of the
> languages.
> 
> The one python thing I will comment on is the construction:
> 
>> Besides, Python, however logical it is, may be unpredictable. For 
>> example:
>> 
>> In [1]: a=99
>> In [2]: b=999
>> In [3]: a is 99
>> Out[3]: True
>> In [4]: b is 999
>> Out[4]: False
> 
> I have never used 'is' but '==' is used for numerical comparasons and
> 'b == 999' does the logical thing. Unless there is some symantic
> reason to the contrary, I think 'b is 999' could be submitted as a
> bug.
> 
> With my first/second generation language experience I have a hard time
> with object stuff. I am current starting to implement a billing system
> in python. I have not picked a GUI but am leaning toward gtk3. I guess
> I will see how I feel about python in a bit.

You might want to look into Qt, I started with Python using Tkinter as 
it was included without needed additional libraries. Then somewhere 
along the way I stumbled upon Eric IDE, and found its integration with 
the Qt Designer a nice rapid way of implementing a GUI within Python. 
But then again I am a system admin who dabbles a bit in programming, so 
there may be some programmers out there that might not think my 2 cents 
is worth the copper the pennies were struck from. It does have the 
advantage/drawback of allowing you to drag and drop GUI elements into 
your layout, and not have to learn all the GUI syntax, then you simply 
write the Python code respond to the triggers sent from the GUI. Its a 
plus and a minus all in one and a lot depends on your perspective and 
what your target audience is for the end result/program.


-- 
Thanks,
    Dean E. Weimer
    http://www.dweimer.net/