#! rnews 2354 Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Path: news.xs4all.nl!newsspool.news.xs4all.nl!transit.news.xs4all.nl!border2.nntp.ams.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!feeder.enertel.nl!nntpfeed-01.ops.asmr-01.energis-idc.net!in.100proofnews.com!in.100proofnews.com!newsread.com!news-xfer.newsread.com!nntp.abs.net!attws2!ip.att.net!NetNews1!xyzzy!nntp From: Harry George <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Which is easier? Translating from C++ or from Java... X-Nntp-Posting-Host: cola2.ca.boeing.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.3 Lines: 47 Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Organization: The Boeing Company References: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:24:53 GMT Xref: news.xs4all.nl comp.lang.python:369571
"cjl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Hey all: > > I'm working on a 'pure' python port of some existing software. > > Implementations of what I'm trying to accomplish are available (open > source) in C++ and in Java. > > Which would be easier for me to use as a reference? > > I'm not looking for automated tools, just trying to gather opinions on > which language is easier to understand / rewrite as python. > > -cjl > I've done a bit of manual porting from C++ and from Java, but never for the same algorithm. Here are some points to consider: 1. Java is already garbage collected, object oriented, and generally "safe". So an algorithm could be copied almost verbatim into Python. In C++ you might get pointers, casts, etc. which would leave you stumped. 2. Java as a community is trying to reinvent the wheel for everything you might already have in a library. So whereas in C++ you might just bind to the same library, in Java you might have to fight your way through layer after layer of java-isms. You could end up doing more work replicating the java-esque libraries than in doing the actual code of interest. Thus there is a tradeoff. For pure algorithms and computer-science-ish programs, java may be easier. For anything that uses libraries and API's, C++ may be easier. As a practical matter, I have found I need to read the code and understand it in the original language. Then, inspired by this insight, I write a wholly new python program, using python-esque idioms. So it comes down to which particular piece of code is easier to understand, and that in turn depends more on the original author's style than on the language. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6-6M21 BCA CompArch Design Engineering Phone: (425) 294-4718 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
