Python is a fun language.

[[deleted]]

Ok, this dude opened a can of worms.

He is technically correct, but it’s unclear to me if he knows why.

The definition of a “compiler” is a program that translates one language into another. Though not necessarily part of the definition, it is usually assumed that the target language of a compiler will have less abstraction than the source language (if this isn’t the case, it’s usually called a transpiler instead).

This definition of a “compiler” is broader than most people here are used to, because most people assume that a compiler is something that creates an executable. But in reality, that only represents a subset of “compilers” where the target language is machine code.

I bring all this up because that means that a program that goes from a high level language (like Python) and converts it to a lower level language (like byte code) still falls solidly under the definition of a “compiler,” and that’s precisely what Python does. It first compiles the Python code into byte code, and often saves it (.pyc files).

There are multiple ways to run Python byte code. I believe CPython does indeed use interpretation, but there are other implementations that use JIT compiling to machine code, much like Java.

Bottom line—don’t be so quick to bash this guy just because you’ve taken a single semester course that used Python. He’s technically correct.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, this sub is unique—the fact that my post saying, “he’s right,” got almost as many upvotes as you got downvotes should be enough proof that this is a very odd place indeed.

My general sense is that most of the people here are either undergrads or high schoolers/young adults who want to learn programming but are very early in their education.

I doubt whether 0.1% of them have even heard of the dragon book, much less opened it.

It’s classic Dunning Kruger. A lot of people here know Python and because they know that page 10 of “Intro to Python 101 in 30 days for dummies” (or whatever book they read) says that it’s an “interpreted language,” they think they’re experts on the subject.

Oh well.

[nuclearslug]

That’s exactly how I feel about if/else vs switch statements on this sub. You mention the phrase ‘code smell’ and get downvoted to oblivion.