Python for C++ Developers

Question

I'm a long time C++/Java developer trying to get into Python and am looking for the stereotypical "Python for C++ Developers" article, but coming up blank. I've seen these sort of things for C#, Java, etc, and they're incredibly useful for getting up to speed on language features and noteworthy differences. Anyone have any references?

As a secondary bonus question, what open source Python program would you suggest looking at for clean design, commenting, and use of the language as a point of reference for study?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I never really understood the "Language X for Language Y developers" approach. When I go looking to learn Language X I want to learn how to program in it the way that Language X programmers do, not the way Language Y programmers do. I want to learn the features, idioms, etc. that are unique to the language that I am learning. I want to be able to take advantage of the things that make the language special and use that knowledge to expand my ways of thinking and solving problems. I don't think I would get the same sort of insights from a tutorial that was framed in the context of another language. If you can learn your first language without a tutorial geared towards something you already know you should be able to pick up a second language the same way (and in my experience, the more languages you know the easier it is to learn new ones).

With that said, I would recommend The Python Tutorial as a good, quick, and easy way to get going with Python and Dive Into Python as a more complete introduction, also available for free here. I would also agree with what others have said regarding looking at the code for the standard libraries as a source of good examples and design practices, the standard python libraries are pretty clean and easy to read.

Answer 2

For the best examples of code of a language, the language's standard library is often a good place to look. Pick a recent piece, though - old parts are probably written for older versions and also sometimes were written before the library became big enough to warrant big standards - like PHP and Erlang's libraries, which have internal inconsistency.

For Python in particular, Python 3000 is cleaning up the library a lot, and so is probably a great source of good Python code (though it is written for a future Python version).

Answer 3

I learned a lot about Python by reading the source of the standard library that ships with Python. I seem to remember having a few "a-ha!" moments when reading urllib2.py in particular.

Answer 4

Python is sufficiently different from C++ so that specific knowledge can't normally be transferred. There are a few language comparisons available. What you can carry over is knowledge of specific APIs, e.g. of the POSIX or socket APIs.

As an example for a typical Python (GUI) application, look at IDLE (as shipped for Python).

Answer 5

Dive Into Python is a Python book for experienced programmers.

Answer 6

C# and Java are seen as cleaner replacements for C++ in many application areas so there is often a "migration" from one to the other - which is why there are books available.

Python and C++ are very different beasts, and although they are both considered general purpose programming languages they are targetted towards different ends of the programming spectrum.

Don't try to write C++ in Python; in fact, try to forget C++ when writing Python. I found it far better to learn the common Python paradigms and techniques and apply them to my C++ programs than the other way around.

Answer 7

To learn the language the free and online python tutorial is really all that you need to pick up the language and start writing apps. If you want a book, I've found Beginning Python from Apress to be an excellent reference and tutorial. Of course the best way to learn a language is to write code, thus I would recommend that you check out Boost.Python. If you have a C++ that needs to be a bit more flexible, Boost.Python can give you a good excuse to learn Python and get paid for it.

Answer 8

Dive Into Python is great, but don't forget PJE's Python Is Not Java.