Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

I don't think any of your assertions are true at all.

There are lots of conforming C programs (just look at the huge list of software which compiles on a huge list of platforms).

There are tons of experienced C developers. Who do you think writes all of that conforming software?

And none of this is related to the topic at all.

If you really can't get your head around the simple idea that the portability of the language is different than the portability of some arbitrary program written in the language, then just look at it this way: If you want to write a program in a language, and you pick C, your program will run on more platforms than if you pick Python.

This is true, regardless of any other argument you might raise, simply because Python won't run on a platform until C runs on that platform (since Python is written in C).

We've been over this. Ad nauseum. Please stop trolling.




> There are lots of conforming C programs (just look at the huge list of software which compiles on a huge list of platforms).

And look at how much of that list breaks when a new version of GCC introduces a minor improvement in optimization.

> just look at it this way: If you want to write a program in a language, and you pick C, your program will run on more platforms than if you pick Python.

That is the question to ask. And your answer simply isn't true. It will (in the overwhelmingly likely case) run on more platforms if you pick Python. Certainly if you hold costs constant, which is surely the only way to compare. If you're willing to spend unlimited time and effort on portability then your C program will run everywhere, but so will your Python program (since you can just port the Python interpreter).

> This is true, regardless of any other argument you might raise, simply because Python won't run on a platform until C runs on that platform (since Python is written in C).

Not actually true (Jython exists and could run on platforms that don't run C), but it doesn't matter. It is overwhelmingly likely that the Python interpreter will run on more platforms than your C program will.

> We've been over this. Ad nauseum. Please stop trolling.

I'm not trolling. Maybe you are?




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: