What are the limits of Python? [closed]

Answer 1

Learn a statically typed language and a scripting language.
You can do whatever you want in either language. A well-written C++ code base is easier to maintain/debug than a Python code base written with the same level of competency.

If your goal is to do web stuff or scripting, Python is for you. Anything more advanced will require C++.

That being said, go for Python.

Answer 2

Comparing Python with Java, Perl and other Programming Languages

Prof. Lutz Prechelt from the University of Karlsruhe compared Python with other programming languages. He summarises his results: "80 implementations of the same set of requirements are compared for several properties, such as run time, memory consumption, source text length, comment density, program structure, reliability, and the amount of effort required for writing them. The results indicate that, for the given programming problem, which regards string manipulation and search in a dictionary, 'scripting languages' (Perl, Python, Rexx, Tcl) are more productive than 'conventional languages' (C, C++, Java). In terms of run time and memory consumption, they often turn out better than Java and not much worse than C or C++. In general, the differences between languages tend to be smaller than the typical differences due to different programmers within the same language. (see Lutz Prechelt, An empirical comparison of C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, Rexx, and Tcl, IEEE Computer, Vol. 30, (10), p. 23-29, Oct 2000.)

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Answer 3

As others have suggested: learn Python to study algorithms and higher level concepts and use it for prototyping and for places where you can. Learn C/C++ and/or Java for the job market and for cases where you must use it.

Python's vastly easier syntax and high level libraries allow you to focus on interfaces and abstractions while still having a functional prototype.

Answer 4

Some Python limits :

- Python is slow. It can be improved in many ways (see other answers) but the bare bone cPython is 100 times slower that C/C++.

This problem is getter more and more mitigated. With Numpy, Pypy and asyncio, most performance problems are not covered, and only very specific use cases are a bottleneck in Python anymore.

- Python is opened to anything. It's really hard to protect / obfuscate / limit Python code.

- Python is not hype. Unlike Ruby, there is no "cool wave" around Python, and it's still much harder to find a experienced Python coder, than, let's say, a Java or a PHP pro.

- After using Python, a lot of languages seems to be a pain to use. You'd think it's good, but believe me, not always. When you have to go Javascript after a Python project, your eyes are in tears for at least 3 days. Really hard to get started.

- It's harder to find web hosting than for popular solutions, such as PHP.

- As a dynamic language, you don't have the very handy refactoring tools you could get with Java and Eclipse or C# and VS.

- For the same reason, you can't rely on type checking as a safety net. This is why pythonistas tend to follow best practice and write unit tests more often than others.

- It seems I just can't find an IDE with a decent code completion. PyDev, Gedit, Komodo, SPE, etc. just don't do it as good as it could be.

With Python 3 types hints and tools like PyCharm or Sublime Text+Anaconda, the situation has changed a lot.

- The best docs are still in English only. Some people don't deal well with it.

- You have to get use to the syntax. Not only you get spaces and line breaks instead of bracets, but you can forget about long lambdas, --i, and ternary operation.

Now, to me, these are not reasons to not learn a tool that will make you produce more while having more fun. But maybe it's just me :-)

Honestly, given that :

• C++ much harder to learn;
• You can do pretty much any thing you want with Python;
• You will get quicker result with Python in your projects.

Unless you have professional issues involving C++, you'd better learn Python first, it's more motivating. You still can learn C++ later, it's a useful language for system programming, embedded devices and such.

Don't try to learn both at the same times, multitasking rarely ends well.

Answer 5

Here's why it's worth learning Python:

A comparatively small number of problems are constrained by the speed of the algorithm. A comparatively large number of problems are bounded by the speed of the developer.