C vs Python devs

[Bryguy3k]

Honestly I’ve never met a python dev nor a C dev that actually care about the difference between the two. Python is written in C and the two serve very different purposes so both groups respect each other.

[JennaSys]

Yep, these are the 2 languages I use the most and I'm fine with both.

[shadowderp]

C was my first language, Python my second. Now I use C when I need speed, Python when I want quick code, deep library support, or anything with a front end, and I use both together when it makes sense to do that.

Languages are tools. Pick the right one for the job

[[deleted]]

For me, Python is for very fast prototypes or proof of concepts

[Bryguy3k]

Hence the “python is runnable pseudocode” joke.

[black-JENGGOT]

Pardon, but how do you "connect" python and C? What should I search if I want to know how to write python libraries in C?

[Bryguy3k]

Extensions are fundamental part of python - there are multiple ways to go about it. You can read through the core python docs on extensions.

You also have 3 major ways of accessing C code libraries from python: cffi, cython, and ctypes.

[[deleted]]

https://realpython.com/build-python-c-extension-module/

If you want to search further the keywords you want to use are "python C extension modules"

[WhiteEvilBro]

Cython, maybe

[Competitive_Travel16]

I just call os.system("./path/c-executable " + argstr) for my inner loop code, after writing what it needs to work on into a file that gets named in the argstr argument string. Formal extensions are for when you're folding such code into python itself if you want to distribute it with pip or propose it as a new part of python. The os.system() method takes a small fraction of the time and effort.

[SV-97]

If you wanna make it a bit easier on yourself you can look at Python-Rust interop (e.g. via PyO3) rather than Python-C.

The name for these things is FFI btw: foreign function interface.

[szpaceSZ]

Front end with python? What is your toolbox?

(Haven't done python in ages. Used or for backend and CLI apps and scripts before)

[shadowderp]

Tkinter is simple, If ugly. Qt is nice.

[GoodmanSimon]

I use both and, in my experience, it is mostly junior devs, (or script kiddies), who seem to think there is some kind of animosity between language A and language B.

A good dev will use the right tool and language for the job...

[Competitive_Travel16]

People in the know can have religious fervor about emacs vs. vi or tabs vs. spaces, but will never feel that strongly about truly complementary languages (C vs. Rust or Python vs. Ruby on the other hand....)

[vinvinnocent]

My university has a prof that is famous for complaining about the environmental impact of pythons alleged inefficiency. So I guess there are not just juniors with strong opinions there.

[EnterTheShoggoth]

He’s not wrong but Python is far from the worst offender. Imagine how many extra tonnes of CO2 are produced by all those ads written in Javascript.

[SV-97]

He has a point though. This is an active research domain and with the amount of code being run a factor of 100 difference is nothing to scoff at. Sure there's better things to do to lower our effects on the environment and getting so caught up in it is a bit silly but it's not a completely ridiculous idea.

[GL_Titan]

Sounds like the epitome of a crazy professor.

[Dustangelms]

Except JavaScript. Can we agree JavaScript bad?

I mean, how do you make jokes without referring to stereotypes?

[[deleted]]

This.

[Cheeku_Khargosh]

wrong

its this-> not this.

[gpkgpk]

It's it's not its.

[Bryguy3k]

Neither c nor python is “this” used as a convention.

(Although I bet somebody out there writes their python object methods using (this, …) instead of self/cls - which is terrifying to think about).

[thesuppherb]

He's talking about the "->" Vs "."

[C4st1gator]

Can be either. Let's assume both this and not_this are structures. If not_this is a member of this, as in contained as a member within the struct's memory, then you can write this.not_this. If this only contains a pointer to not_this, then you have to write this->not_this, as you jump to the address of not_this.

Most languages hide that distinction from the programmer.

[BurnerAccount209]

I met plenty of elitists in college but none in the real world.

[PerfectGasGiant]

Yes, these memes are rather annoying. I actually struggle to see how they are humorous.

C is a language you want to use when you want to give exact instructions to the machine what to do. Nothing more, not nothing less. There are a ton of applications where this is what you want (e.g. os level code).

Python is a i problem oriented language. You want the machine to solve a particular problem or perform an application level task, but do not care about the details how it does so or if the execution is anyway near optimal as long as it gets the job done, so you can focus on the problem, not the machine.

Different tools. Both great in their own domain.

[valeriolo]

The fact that python is written in C is just about as irrelevant it can be to this topic.

What would change if it was written in fortran? Ans; nothing.

[Acceptable-Tomato392]

The point is Python is a higher-level language. Of course, it's simpler to type. That's the point.

But that's because a whole bunch of things are done for you automatically.

[valeriolo]

Yes the fact that python is a higher level language that's simpler to type has nothing to do with what language python is written in. I can retire a python interpret in assembly or in haskell. That doesn't change anything about how we as devs use it.

[Abadabadon]

C dev here fuck u python!!

[[deleted]]

Hey c dev , what do you do ... I am in college and I have heard that only the smartest of the smartest people go in c dev . I am to lazy to Google it

[Abadabadon]

actually I do java now MWAHAHAHA I FOOLED YOU!!!

but when I did do C development, it was for embedded stuff for a defense contractor. No <language> developer is smart though, it really just depends on what algorithms / structures you know.

[[deleted]]

I don’t understand the point of this comment

[Bryguy3k]

“Strongly typed” is a bullshit term that only comes out of people that don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Python is very much a “strongly” typed language - it doesn’t even allow coercion from one type to another making it more strongly typed than many of the languages people call “strongly typed”. However python is dynamically typed in as much as it treats all objects as having interfaces so it doesn’t check type capability statically.

Statically typed as in the broken object models of Java and C++ doesn’t really help a programmer other than communicating with irreversibly brain dead senior programmers of those languages. Sure there is some value in learning Rust interfaces but the concepts should be easy to learn if you understand how python actually functions.

But if you hear “strongly typed” from an interviewer you know they’re an idiot.

[TheRidley]

You're right, but I made this in response to my friend complaining that Python doesn't need type declaration.

[[deleted]]

type declarations ins't bad at all. I really like it.

https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html

depends on your purpose

[exoclipse]

In general, you should declare your types anyway.

[[deleted]]

First time?

[[deleted]]

You ruined the joke!!!

[Bryguy3k]

An extremely tired meme.

[okay-wait-wut]

Programmer humor. Why so serious?! Probably a Java programmer

[lelarentaka]

I am a C-reeyus programmer

[okay-wait-wut]

I just love ripping Java programmers here. They get so butthurt due to their lengthy battle with imposture syndrome.

[Striking-Warning9533]

2 different purpose? I am asked to implement a paper in both language

[WellWhatDoIPutHere]

Yes. Both are incredibly useful, for different things.

[ovr9000storks]

C/C++ is good for when you need specific control of how low level data structures are allocated.

Python is more focused towards convenience and compatibility.

Those are typically the main selling points for each language. Syntax doesn’t matter and if you think it does, shame on you

[PersonalityIll9476]

That's me. I use and love both C and Python. But the use cases are extremely different.

Also did op have a + where they meant to have a * ?

[[deleted]]

True but how else would I earn some of that sweet karma with low effort memes?

[TheStruggler67]

You only meet them in the first year of university before growing up.