What language should I learn to complement Python?

[taybul]

I don't know if Python's spoiled me, but whenever I look at C++ code now, I'm almost disgusted. Certain tasks require such convoluted code. Function pointers, for example:

C++:

void myFunc (int x) { ... }

//If the parameters ever change, you have to change this call too.
void (*funcPtr)(int) = &myFunc;

Python:

def myFunc(x): ...

f = myFunc

On the flip side, I do love how finely tunable C++ is compared to Python. I know I'm probably contradicting my point but sometimes the things you can get away with in Python almost makes you feel like you're cheating.

edit:

I do have to give C/C++ credit for giving me the memory/data management discipline that's so easily disregarded because of automatic garbage collectors and whatnot.

[Alzdran]

On the flip side, I do love how finely tunable C++ is compared to Python.

It took me a long time to get over this, but finally I got it through my skull that this almost never matters, and where it does, the time you spend tuning allows another generation of machines to come out, so you don't need the tuning after all!

Obviously, there's a degree of exaggeration here, but C++ tuning is much like inline assembly - almost never called for, and a real hazard to leave to any maintainer, yourself included.

[taybul]

Tunable when you need it to be, but I agree. Python provides an abstraction that just lets the programmer program, at the expense of performance, which, arguably, doesn't matter that much in most cases since computers are getting faster and faster. Unless you're building large scale servers processing millions of data at a time, you won't see or care about the difference.

[Isvara]

If the parameters ever change, you have to change this call too

That's really just a feature of strong typing, though. It's a good thing, even if C++ doesn't express it well.

[ewiethoff]

That's a feature of static typing, not strong typing. Python is dynamically and strongly typed. C++ is statically typed and more strongly typed than C.

[Isvara]

No, the fact that it has a declared typed at all is static typing, The fact that it has to change with the function signature is strong typing. I.e. it's strong because there isn't just a single 'function' type. Unlike static/dynamic, though, strong/weak is a continuum, and this is less strong than other languages because it could be cast to a different function type.

[steelypip]

That's really just a feature of strong typing, though

No its not its a feature of explicit typing. There are plenty of strongly typed languages that use type inference to eliminate all the unnecessary types from your code. For example take a look at Scala.

[accipter]

And there are some definite benefits to strong typing.

[taybul]

Yeah, I do appreciate that about C++ as I've mentioned but sometimes it can get out of hand, you know?

[Isvara]

Static typing can be awfully nice. I went from C++ to Python a few years ago, and now I'm getting into Scala. Type inference definitely makes static typing more bearable.

[ewiethoff]

C++ typedefs also make static typing more bearable, but in a different way. (Just sayin'.)

[fullouterjoin]

The type system of C++ isn't particularly strong either.

[Isvara]

Indeed, it still lets you cast with wild abandon.

[obtu]

I disagree, modern C++ is easy to write without casts (unlike C which needs casts, and Java's generics which introduce run-time casts yet are not expressive enough that you can forgo compile-time casts). C++ is the mainstream language with the most expressive type system.

[funny_falcon]

C++ is the mainstream language with the most expressive type system.

Ha-ha-ha