[mantraxC]

> He was dispelling the common misconception is that Python is an "interpreted language" and Java is a "compiled language," when the reality is that (in their most common implementations) both of these languages are compiled to bytecode that is then interpreted by a VM.

Good example of how you can take an issue and confuse it even more with tricky use of words, however despite both Java and Python have a VM, and despite both have bytecode, they're at the different ends of the spectrum from "naively interpreted from source" to "fully compiled".

It helps that Java was designed in a way that allows most of the code to be JIT compiled, which leaves interpreting for a few edge cases.

[kyllo]

That's less important of a distinction when you consider that Python has a JIT implementation too (PyPy).

[mantraxC]

No, it's still an important distinction, because there's a lot less to JIT in Python, compared to Java, which is why I specifically mentioned that bit.

And to prove my point just bench PyPy against Java on any given machine of your choice, and then come back to tell me if the distinction is important enough.