Python -> Java -> D ?

[Bill Baxter]

Chris Nicholson-Sauls wrote:
> Kirk McDonald wrote:
>> David Finlayson wrote:
>>> I am a Python scripter in search of a language with better
>>> performance. I do a lot of signal processing in my job and I think
>>> I've pushed Python as far as it will go. Recently, I have written a
>>> few programs in D and have been impressed with (a) how easy the
>>> transition from Python has been, (2) the large boost in performance
>>> for my code.
>>>
>>> Here's the question:
>>>
>>> Should my second language be a new language like D? Or, would I be
>>> better off mastering something more mainstream such as C or C++?
>>>
>>> [...]
>>
>> Well, maybe I'm a little biased, but I think Python and D are a potent 
>> combination. You could do worse.
>>
>> That said, you might do well by picking up a copy of K&R[1] and 
>> learning C.  It is good to learn the low-level details of the machine. 
>> Also, very nearly every library in existence speaks C; it is the 
>> closest thing to a lingua franca in the programming world. And a lot 
>> (but not all) of what you'd learn doing C would apply to D (not to 
>> mention C++).
>>
>> [1] The C Programming Language, by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie
>>
> 
> I'll second that.  I started out with various flavors of BASIC (first 
> was BASIC/1a on old Tandy machines), then later learned C in school.  
> With a working knowledge of C in hand, I've found picking up nearly any 
> other language rather straightforward -- even languages notably distant 
> /from/ C.

I'm a K&R devotee too.  Short, sweet, and to the point.  I went from 
self-taught BASIC to self-taught C via K&R without too much trouble. 
And that was as a know-nothing college freshman.

If you're going to continue to use Python then knowing C will probably 
be more valuable to you in the long run.  C is the lingua franca of all 
popular operating systems today.  Any C++ APIs presented by the OS are 
most likely wrappers around an underlying C API.  The Python API for 
writing extension modules in native code is a C API.  And as you already 
hinted you are much more likely to find working code that you can borrow 
in C than you are in D.

But *after* you learn C then D is probably a great 2nd step.  D is 
mostly a superset of C, so you more or less have to learn C as part of 
learning D anyway.  D can also call C libraries directly.  So anything 
you write or obtain that's written in C, can be used pretty easily from 
D.  You need to translate the C header file to D, but you don't 
generally need to write any new functions.

I think I can sum up my recommendations succinctly by saying

    "D comes after C"

:-)

--bb