Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by protomyth 2571 days ago
Isn’t that a case of the tail wagging the dog? If Python code were 10x faster, the need to write performance sensitive code in a native extension would be a lot lower. There is a cognitive cost in having to switch between languages and knowing when to switch.
2 comments
gameswithgo 2571 days ago
its unfortunate that dynamic interpreted languages with easy uptake for small projects get so popular, and then big, serious things have to eat the performance penalty for years and years. The world could use a language that is 'easy' like python/ruby but fast.

Something like a simplified nim/f# with type inference. So it feels dynamic as you code but isn't really.

Or yes if the normal way to run python was with a top notch jit that would be a big plus.

link
0_gravitas 2571 days ago
It's not necessarily C-fast and it is dynamically typed but in the ratio of easiness-to-performance elixir seems to be pretty affable, especially for concurrency stuff. It does tend to balk at some heavier stuff like number-crunching, and that's when I see people start to use Rust NIFs.
link
carlmr 2571 days ago
Elixir also has easy to use environment with mix.
link
ForHackernews 2570 days ago
> The world could use a language that is 'easy' like python/ruby but fast.

IMHO, Julia is that language: https://julialang.org/

link
ris 2571 days ago
> If Python code were 10x faster

That's a pretty big "if". Unfortunately making python a lot faster is difficult because python is such a dynamic language. The pypy folks have done their best, with a respectable amount of success.

link
protomyth 2570 days ago
That's a pretty big "if".

The 10x figure I was quoting was from the comment I was responding to. I do think people need to look at what was accomplished by the Strongtalk team and various other projects dealing with dynamic languages including some Lisp implementations. I'm pretty sure Python can be a lot faster, but the legacy code is going to be a big, big problem.

link
ris 2570 days ago
> various other projects dealing with dynamic languages

Not all dynamic languages are born the same.

> I'm pretty sure Python can be a lot faster

You might like you join the PyPy team then and find out.

link
protomyth 2569 days ago
You missed the but the legacy code is going to be a big, big problem. part. If, as other posters point out, those C extensions are not designed to work without the the GIL, then its going to be a 2->3 situation.

Frankly, I honor the Python folks and all their achievements, but I really dislike the language. I mostly am researching another paradigm.

link