Python 101
By Evelyn Mitchell2005-04-27
Python and Java
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Java is a full-featured programming language with a complete range of types, thread support, strong typing, and all of the other features you expect.
Python is a scripting language. It doesn't use or offer strong typing, which is nice for prototyping but can cause problems in more complex implementations. It does offer thread support, but it isn't as rugged as Java's thread support.
Installing Python on Linux
If you are running a Red Hat Linux system that uses RPM, installing Python is as simple as downloading the RPM from the Python.org Web site (see Resources) and typing:
rpm -i python-1.5.2-2.i386.rpmRed Hat 6.0 shipped with Python 1.5.1, so you will need to update it if you have it already installed:
rpm -u python-1.5.2-2.i386.rpmIf you are running Debian Linux, you can download Python and some additional modules from the standard Debian distribution using apt/dselect.
Other Linux platforms will need to compile Python from source. To do this follow the instructions in the README file in the distribution, or consult your local expert.
But you don't need to choose between Java and Python. Using JPython (see Resources), you can write Python code that is evaluated within a Java Virtual Machine. You don't even have to take a performance penalty. In fact, there have been several reports of a marked speed increase between regular C Python and JPython because of some optimizations in the implementation of dynamic datatypes in the JPython port of Python.
Tutorial Pages:
» The Other Scripting Language that Starts with "P"
» Python and Perl
» Python and Tcl
» Python and Java
» Why is Python popular with Linux users?
» What is Python Bad For?
» Who uses Python?
» How to get Python
» Resources
First published by IBM DeveloperWorks
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