Hello. I am new to Python. It seems a very interesting language to me. Its simplicity is very attractive.
However, it is usually said that Python is not a compiled but interpreted programming language —I mean, it is not like C, in that sense. I am working on my PhD Thesis, which is about Operations Research, heuristic algorithms, etc., and I am considering the possibility of programming all my algorithms in Python. The usual alternative is C, but I like Python more. The main drawbacks I see to using Python are these: * As far as I understand, the fact that Python is not a compiled language makes it slower than C, when performing huge amounts of computations within an algorithm or program. * I don't know how likely it is to find libraries in Python related to my research field. * I know Python is a "serious" and mature programming language, of course. But I do not know if it is seen as "just funny" in a research context. Is Python considered as a good programming language for implementing Operations Research algorithms, such as heuristics and other soft-computing algorithms? Maybe this is not the right forum, but maybe you can give me some hints or tips... Thank you in advance. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
