Acceptance of OpenOffice.org (was Re: Gov't , economics and technology (was Re: METROCAST BLOCKS RESIDENTIAL E-MAIL))

[Ben Scott]

On 3/15/06, Python <python at venix.com> wrote:
> Astronomers (who I admittedly met at a Python conference) who said that
> Python had replaced Forth as the language of choice.

  I bet all the non-astronomers at that Python conference also said
Python was a language of choice.  ;-)

> This is not meant to denigrate Perl or C or other programming languages.
> If your programming is an adjunct to your main job, you'll want a
> programming language that is relatively easy to apply.  C is not a
> reasonable option.  Perl, Python, Ruby, Smalltalk, Tcl, all have pros
> and cons, but do make the cut as languages that can be used effectively
> by people without extensive programming backgrounds.

  Hmmm.  I would say pretty much any programming language, including
all of the above, will require a significant investment in education
before they become useful for the development of new code.

  Most C implementations lack any kind of run-time error checking,
which usually makes it very hard for the beginner (or even the expert)
to find certain kinds of common mistakes.

  The lack of an interactive mode for C also makes "learning by doing"
a lot harder.

  None of that really eliminates the need for education, though; C
just makes the education a lot more painful.

  It takes more then 24 hours to learn how to program a computer,
regardless of what Sam's Publishing says.  :)

-- Ben