[ruby-talk:14116] Re: From Guido, with love... [+ Jython & JRuby]

So far none of the previous replies to my earlier post addressed what I
thought was the more interesting part. Now that things have hopefully
simmered down a bit, let me try again, minus the other stuff.

I wrote:

> [Lots of preceding stuff snipped.]
>
> Anyway, what I found most interesting about Guido's interview were the
> following comments:
> 
> # [O]ne of my reasons against adding Scheme-style continuations to the
> # language (this has seriously been proposed by the Stackless folks)
> # is that it can't be implemented in a JVM.
> 
> I'm interested in knowing what people who are knowledgeable about such
> things think about the major implications of this (if any) for Jython and
> JRuby, pro or con.
> 
> # I find the existence of
> # Jython very useful because it reminds me to think in terms of more
> # abstract language semantics, not just implementation details.
> #
> # IMO the portability of C Python is better than that of Jython, by
> # the way.  True, you have to compile C Python for each architecture,
> # but there are fewer platforms without a C compiler than platforms
> # without a decent JVM.
> #
> # Jython is mostly useful for people who have already chosen the Java
> # platform (or who have no choice because of company policy or simply
> # what the competition does). In that world, it is the scripting and
> # extension language of choice.
> 
> # [Question] does Python need a CPAN?
> #
> # One of the reasons I still write some things in PERL is because I
> # know that I can find and install about a zillion modules quickly and
> # easily through the CPAN repository and CPAN module. I'm pretty sure
> # that if Python had something similar, like the Vaults of Parnassus
> # but more evolved that I would abandon PERL almost entirely.
> #
> # Do you see things in a similar way? If so, why has Python not
> # evolved something similar or better, and what can I do to help it
> # along in this realm?
> #
> # [Answer} It's coming! Check out the action in the catalog-sig
> # http://python.org/sigs/catalog-sig/. You can help by joining.
> #
> # One reason why it hasn't happened already is that first we needed to
> # have a good package installation story. With the widespread adoption
> # of distutils, this is taken care of, and I foresee a bright future
> # for the catalog activities.

-- 
Conrad Schneiker
(This note is unofficial and subject to improvement without notice.)